The point is it's not like he's some 18 year old rookie anymore.

Don't use the condescending head shake emoji at me
- chilliard77

His peers are Draisaitl, Bennett and DalColle. He's hands down better than 2 of those guys.
- Wetbandit1

Honestly, everyone knew Ekblad was going first that year. And I don't follow prospects much. But everything that draft pointed to not taking a wimp who couldn't do a pull-up (shoulder injury or not) and not taking another Reinhart protege'.

From a purely objective standpoint, I would have taken Draisaitl 4/5 times simply because he looked more NHL ready from a physique stand-point. Reinhart and Bennet were both wimpy then and are both wimpy now. Draisaitl, to me, seemed more of a Tim Murray type, too, based off of everything he had said about the TYPE of player/team he liked.

This isn't hindsight, I was not happy with Tim Murray's telegraphed selection. I honestly wanted Ekblad that draft but we all knew it was out of the question, so IMO, we either should have traded down or skipped over the Sams.

And if he goes off does he get credit for being "only 22". We're only judging him on what he's done so far. He just completed his 21 year old season.
- Wetbandit1

I hope he does but all we can judge him on is what he's done. We can sit around hoping he scores 70+ points some day but that doesn't mean it will happen. Potential only goes so far

Really!! Let it go.....
- Irish 14

Sorry. No can do

His peers are Draisaitl, Bennett and DalColle. He's hands down better than 2 of those guys.
- Wetbandit1

Why are you stopping at Dal Colle? His peers are the guys his age from that class.

For the first guy taken (forward) who is also the oldest, he isn't the best guy, or even the 4th best guy. Which is why people are disappointed. If you aren't....cool no problem

I hope he does but all we can judge him on is what he's done. We can sit around hoping he scores 70+ points some day but that doesn't mean it will happen. Potential only goes so far
- chilliard77

I hope he gets 70 too.

I just don't feel the need to defend a mediocre season from a guy who's supposed to be very important

I hope he gets 70 too.

I just don't feel the need to defend a mediocre season from a guy who's supposed to be very important
- sbroads24

All I said was he'll be 22 in November and now I'm the bad man

All I said was he'll be 22 in November and now I'm the bad man
- chilliard77

You're misleading the league in misleads right now

I like Sam Reinhart. And, draft status aside, I like the first two years he's had. I just hope for more from a 2nd overall pick

But why can't Reinhart be as good as Barkov?
- Wetbandit1

Well done sir! But there are no spots on this forum for facts!

Why are you stopping at Dal Colle? His peers are the guys his age from that class.

For the first guy taken (forward) who is also the oldest, he isn't the best guy, or even the 4th best guy. Which is why people are disappointed. If you aren't....cool no problem
- sbroads24

His peers, from a draft perspective, meaning guys that had any hope in hell at being drafted at #2, Dal Colle shouldn't even be there either, but I just used the top 5. It's fantastic that Pastrnak is a seemingly great player, but we weren't picking him, no one in their right minds was going to pick him, even in the top 10. To compare the 2 is asinine.

All I said was he'll be 22 in November and now I'm the bad man
- chilliard77

Not at all, it just seemed weird to use the modifier when it's over 6 months away. Especially when we're talking about things that have already happened.

His peers, from a draft perspective, meaning guys that had any hope in hell at being drafted at #2, Dal Colle shouldn't even be there either, but I just used the top 5. It's fantastic that Pastrnak is a seemingly great player, but we weren't picking him, no one in their right minds was picking him, even in the top 10. To compare the 2 is asinine.
- Wetbandit1

That doesn't really matter to me. I myself are wondering, if player x who is 20-21 years old, is making an impact greater than Reinhart, why?

Reinhart has the mental game down pat. He is already given the ice with top PP time and with Eichel. What is going to be the difference in year 3?

Most development comes from either opportunity (he's already been given this) growing into an NHL frame (which he has) or learning the mental aspects of where and when to be certain places ( he has that down)

IMO, this is 90% of what Reinhart will be.

I have a few ideas without changing the rink size:

-Call a (frank)ing interference penalty, FFS, it's literally happening almost every offensive zone entry. The constant hooking and slashing is bad enough but the holding and interference penalties are happening constantly and very rarely, if ever, called.

- Make the RED LINE the offsides line on powerplays.

- Don't let the team killing a penalty ice the puck

- Make a player serve his entire penalty, regardless of goals against

- Remove the trapezoid

- If the shootout stays, a SO goal counts toward season totals (this would never put a guy over 92 in a season and at most gets one or two guys a decade pushing 70; goal scoring increases)

Your suggestion at the end is one I haven't considered, though. If you put the blue lines closer to the center-ice line, then you have a smaller neutral zone but how much more in-zone possession as a result? There's only a handful of plays at the blue line per game that this would effect.

I'm all for increasing the rink size. This is so easily done that the NHL is lying any time they have an excuse against it. This would take ONE summer of renovations per arena, if that. You knock out the first 5 rows of seats, up ticket prices accordingly so the loss of a couple hundred seats doesn't affect revenue.

But this is assuming that a larger rink would actually increase scoring. There's always the international/Olympic argument but the NHL has the best goaltenders in the world. How much more scoring would this result in, if the NHL were to have bigger rinks? It might be negligible.

Goalie pads are humongous. If they cropped every piece of a goalie's equipment by .25'' or a couple CMs, that might have a profound effect on scoring. The more athletic goalies lose a few pounds of extra weight and the one's relying on large pads and positioning are exposed, so we'd see a potential paradigm shift in goaltending as a result.

There are dozens of ideas to increase scoring. Dozens. The NHL is doing maybe 1 small thing per year that doesn't dramatically effect anything. They're sitting on their hands because the Canadian market alone will ensure the NHL's success. They have no desire to compete with the NBA or NFL for casual ratings and that's the biggest issue in the end. The game is too boring to watch as a casual fan. If the game were fast and exciting, the casual fan wouldn't give 2 (frank)s about the rules if it was fun to watch.
- BeadyEyedDouche

I agree, but I think shot blocking would go down and so would the delta between shots attempted and shots on goal. Goalies would be forced to make more saves and control more rebounds. I predict the increase of goals per game average would be astounding when compared to the other gimmicks they've tried to increase scoring in the past. Larger ice is paramount in my book.

That doesn't really matter to me. I myself are wondering, if player x who is 20-21 years old, is making an impact greater than Reinhart, why?

Reinhart has the mental game down pat. He is already given the ice with top PP time and with Eichel. What is going to be the difference in year 3?

Most development comes from either opportunity (he's already been given this) growing into an NHL frame (which he has) or learning the mental aspects of where and when to be certain places ( he has that down)

IMO, this is 90% of what Reinhart will be.
- sbroads24

That's fair, but why does it matter if that player was never going to be a Sabre? I see what you're saying, but there are gems in almost every draft and if you get bogged down with the fact that a guy who way outperforms his draft status, especially in a draft that was very weak at the top. I don't know, that just seems like nit picking. I really only concern myself with guys we could have picked. Like Draisaitl. If he was Canadian you can bet your ass he'd be a Sabre. But he's not, so he fell. We avoided Bennett, thank God. It's not like passing on Werenski for Hanifin.

Jimmy Murphy‏Verified account
@MurphysLaw74

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Put #Lightning Asst. GM Julien BriseBois on the list of GM candidates for #Sabres. Dark horse for now but in mix.

Jimmy Murphy‏Verified account
@MurphysLaw74

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Put #Lightning Asst. GM Julien BriseBois on the list of GM candidates for #Sabres. Dark horse for now but in mix.
- Sabresfan-365

He was one of the ones with a weird contract that might not allow him to leave.

I'm just glad your here
- 22sabresQ

I wouldn't say that too loud

He was one of the ones with a weird contract that might not allow him to leave.
- Wetbandit1

really? havent seen anything on that. Hed be a good hire though

Jimmy Murphy‏Verified account
@MurphysLaw74

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Put #Lightning Asst. GM Julien BriseBois on the list of GM candidates for #Sabres. Dark horse for now but in mix.
- Sabresfan-365

Don't like "dark horse"


....so racist

Don't like "dark horse"


....so racist
- sbroads24

Why is he Asian too?

really? havent seen anything on that. Hed be a good hire though
- Sabresfan-365

It was in the huge post of yours.

Another is Tampa Bay assistant GM Julien Brisebois. He interviewed in Pittsburgh when Jim Rutherford got the job, but I’m not sure his contract allows him to leave at this time.

Why is he Asian too?
- chilliard77

I don't know, because his mom and dad are Asian? That's usually why people are the ethnicity they are...

It was in the huge post of yours.
- Wetbandit1

doh!

saw pittsburgh when i was skimming and assumed it was in reference to botterill.

I think in either case they ask for permission, maybe terry has to pay some sort of buyout or something.

doh!

saw pittsburgh when i was skimming and assumed it was in reference to botterill.

I think in either case they ask for permission, maybe terry has to pay some sort of buyout or something.
- Sabresfan-365

Yeah, I'm not sure.