2023-24 NHL Season Thread.

[Nazrark]

That has to be the most retarded penalty called against a goalie that I have ever seen.

It is against the rules though. Brodeur is the main reason for that. I had to explain it to my grandfather. The goalie cannot stop play like that, when he has the puck outside of his crease. He has to play it, or else he is delaying the game.

[Spectral]

What a weird, weird, time to be a Sabres fan. Despite all the weirdness, I know I have rooting interest in the playoffs now. I'd be delighted to see Miller get a cup in St. Louis.

[supervixen]

GO LEAFS GO!!! *avoids eye contact*

[Zeoni]

Hah fuck Edmonton ill be the first to congratulate Sam Reinhart on his selection by the Oilers!

http://gfycat.com/KaleidoscopicUnfoldedAphid#

Poor leafs haven't seen that call in a couple years

[VanillaO]

If Edmonton gets the first pick they'd be smart to either use it on Ekblad or trade it + and one of their big name forwards (prob Yakupov at this point?) for a big name #1 D. Just my thoughts.

Isles have a shitty decision to make in the draft this summer, too. Since they're all but guaranteed a top-10 pick, do they let Buffalo have it this year and hope they're magically a better team next year? Or do they defer to next year and miss out on what's looking like a pretty deep draft this year (at least in the top 10). If they're typical-Isles bad next year, they could easily be in the McDavid/Eichel chase. Either way, the Sabres are going to be scary good in 5-7 years if they don't fuck up the next couple drafts.

[Rennadrel]

If Edmonton gets the first pick they'd be smart to either use it on Ekblad or trade it + and one of their big name forwards (prob Yakupov at this point?) for a big name #1 D. Just my thoughts.

Isles have a shitty decision to make in the draft this summer, too. Since they're all but guaranteed a top-10 pick, do they let Buffalo have it this year and hope they're magically a better team next year? Or do they defer to next year and miss out on what's looking like a pretty deep draft this year (at least in the top 10). If they're typical-Isles bad next year, they could easily be in the McDavid/Eichel chase. Either way, the Sabres are going to be scary good in 5-7 years if they don't fuck up the next couple drafts.

When have the not fucked up building their team?

[Zeoni]

If Edmonton gets the first pick they'd be smart to either use it on Ekblad or trade it + and one of their big name forwards (prob Yakupov at this point?) for a big name #1 D. Just my thoughts.

Isles have a shitty decision to make in the draft this summer, too. Since they're all but guaranteed a top-10 pick, do they let Buffalo have it this year and hope they're magically a better team next year? Or do they defer to next year and miss out on what's looking like a pretty deep draft this year (at least in the top 10). If they're typical-Isles bad next year, they could easily be in the McDavid/Eichel chase. Either way, the Sabres are going to be scary good in 5-7 years if they don't fuck up the next couple drafts.

It was a joke at their drafting of small forwards ;[

[Sylore]

When have the not fucked up building their team?

Their new GM is very good at drafting. He's been a big part in the last few drafts for the senators and their picks have been good.

[Rennadrel]

Their new GM is very good at drafting. He's been a big part in the last few drafts for the senators and their picks have been good.

My point is that they have been terrible at drafting for the last, I don't know, 20 years or so. The only good player they have drafted in the last 20 years that made them would be contenders was Miller and now they are starting at square one again. The goalie draft hasn't been deep for the last few years and they are going to be hard pressed to find a guy who can replace Miller and bring them a Cup in the next several years unless they draft someone out of Europe and get lucky on the pick. They should have been tanking several years ago while Miller was still young and getting good players then, they would have won a Cup by now if they had drafted the likes of a Crosby or Ovechkin among other good talented players that have come through the draft the last several years. They aren't going to get those kinds of impact players out of the draft because as Edmonton has proven, it doesn't matter how high you draft, your prospects can turn out to be mediocre at the NHL level rather then impact players. Tavares was the last top 3 pick that has really proven to be at least worth the hype. Sure, he isn't as good as he was in the OHL but that isn't a big deal, he is still really fucking good. Duchene has been good too mind you and he is still coming into his own.

[Zeoni]

EHHH Oilers drafted great players they just completely dropped the ball with developing them and getting a supporting cast to make sure they don't turn out they way they have. I think Mackinnon is going to be a damn good player too.

[Nerio]

close

[Spectral]

My point is that they have been terrible at drafting for the last, I don't know, 20 years or so. The only good player they have drafted in the last 20 years that made them would be contenders was Miller and now they are starting at square one again.

I don't think that's totally fair. Vanek and Pominville are nice players and Campbell had a couple very good seasons before turning into a contract albatross.

In any case, Regier's out the door and Murray has a reputation as a very good draft talent evaluator. He's certainly got a ton of picks to play with, so we'll see soon enough. As a relatively patient Sabres fan, I'm optimistic about the future.

They should have been tanking several years ago while Miller was still young and getting good players then, they would have won a Cup by now if they had drafted the likes of a Crosby or Ovechkin among other good talented players that have come through the draft the last several years.

Which year? Miller's first full season the Sabres nearly won a Cup and quite possibly would have if it weren't for a ton of defense injuries in the playoffs. In his second full season, they won a President's Trophy. They hovered around .500 for a couple years, then rebuilt and won the division '09-10 and went to the playoffs in '10-11, losing a tough 7 game series to Philly. I guess you can argue they should have tanked '11-12. They certainly should have tanked '12-13 instead of dumping money into mediocrities like Leino, but it's not like we'd be seeing the results of that yet.

[Rennadrel]

At the rate Buffalo has been going when it comes to building a team, it's going to be a while before they get out of the basement again.

Those Heritage Classic jerseys are horrible looking things by the way.

[Spectral]

At the rate Buffalo has been going when it comes to building a team, it's going to be a while before they get out of the basement again.

You realize that this season is a deliberate tank job, right? Last year was a horribly failed attempt at getting back to contention, and it wound up costing Regier and Ruff their jobs. The new crew, with Murray, really can't be evaluated yet. He comes off as a damned wizard for getting what will likely be two first rounders in exchange for 20 games of Miller and Ott.

[VanillaO]

MacKinnon has been great - he's like 3rd or 5th in the NHL since January 1st in points or something (it was a graphic shown during Leafs game against Islanders last week). 49 points in 61 games as a rookie? Yes, please. Obviously he has areas he can improve, but this guy is putting up that many points playing on the 2nd/3rd line most of the year. It's pretty great.

I think Ryan Murray is going to be a stud for Columbus, too. That guy has huge upside.

Landeskog has also been solid for Colorado.

I guess that's 0 top 3 picks since the '09 draft who are any good.

Also, of course the Sabres won't be winning the cup in the next 5 years. They are going into full rebuild mode. This isn't going to be a Burke attempt at a quick turnaround like the Leafs had where they are back to the playoffs 4 years after he takes over. This is a 'sell everything that isn't bolted to the ground and get as much back in picks as we're allowed without going below the cap floor' rebuild.

Rumor has it Ott would be open to re-signing in Buffalo after the season by the way. No telling if that's true, but if it is, that is an incredible deal for the Sabres. Right now they have 4 first round picks in the next 2 drafts (which could be 5 or 6 first round picks 48 hours from now), 6 second round picks (not including further deals)... Does this mean contender by 2020? No. But it puts them in a far better situation to do so than a lot of teams who are facing rebuilds right now or in the beginning stages of rebuilding.

The Islanders' staff could learn a thing or two from what is going on in Buffalo right now. If the Oilers continue to be brutal next year, I can easily see them blowing that gong show up only 5 years in. They've got Scrivens playing well for them now so maybe they can be a bit better? Maybe?

My team in NHL 14 is even dirtier in year 2 by the way. My top 2 centers are Toews and Duchene. Top line of JVR/Toews/Kessel with 88/93/92 ratings. Lowest top-6 rating is 85 and it's Silvferberg. Oh, but wait there's more. Top D pairing is Jack Johnson/Ekman-Larsson... and the best part: I have 4 first round picks in the next draft (McDavid draft), including 2 that are looking to be from teams finishing 27th-30th in the league. McDavid/Eichel here's hoping.

- - - Updated - - -

I was looking through the contracts of names being thrown around this week, and stumbled upon something interesting I had forgotten. While Ehrhoff has a 4M annual cap hit through 2021, he has already been paid over half of the 40M he's owed through 2.75 years of the deal. Starting next year, he'll only be owed 18M over 7 years. 4M isn't a brutal cap hit starting next year, either. I could see a team with lower revenue go after him, seeing as he's only making ~2.5M a year with a cap hit of 4M for a long time. Honestly, Montreal should really consider it... as much as I hate the Habs, they need some upgrades on the back end.

[Armourboy]

Looks like Peks is back. Hopefully he does well cause it would be nice to have a really good goalie again. Pretty sure Dubs is now on waivers if anyone is reaaaallly hard up.

[Zeoni]

Looks like Peks is back. Hopefully he does well cause it would be nice to have a really good goalie again. Pretty sure Dubs is now on waivers if anyone is reaaaallly hard up.

Genuinely happy for Preds fans tbh, Rinne and Weber carry that team and 1 without the other is just a shame

[VanillaO]

Another pretty frustrating game to watch for long periods of time... 0-1-2 since the break. Go team. Oh and also, every team chasing them with a realistic chance to catch them has game(s) in hand.. so that's fun, too. A week ago I was jazzed to see them get back at it because they had such a winnable schedule before going on a 5-game trip. Now I'm fearing that after their next 2 games and the 5-game trip, they'll be back on the outside looking in. Rangers on the road, Flyers at home, then Ducks/Sharks/Kings/Capitals/Red Wings all on the road. Someone hold me.

[Greeney]

Another pretty frustrating game to watch for long periods of time... 0-1-2 since the break. Go team. Oh and also, every team chasing them with a realistic chance to catch them has game(s) in hand.. so that's fun, too. A week ago I was jazzed to see them get back at it because they had such a winnable schedule before going on a 5-game trip. Now I'm fearing that after their next 2 games and the 5-game trip, they'll be back on the outside looking in. Rangers on the road, Flyers at home, then Ducks/Sharks/Kings/Capitals/Red Wings all on the road. Someone hold me.

That second period was devastating. The only hope I really have about this road series is that the last time we faced this sort of trip we came out pretty well.

[Armourboy]

Genuinely happy for Preds fans tbh, Rinne and Weber carry that team and 1 without the other is just a shame

I just want him to get back in form and healthy. The good thing is what he has been out for wasn't joint, or muscle, or bone related, it was an infection. We already know he can go because he did at the start of the season, just scared they didn't get it all and he's out again.