Around the NHL 2024-2025

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I just don’t see what we have that they need. Then again I don’t understand why they wanted Byram either.

did they need berglund? sobotka? or for that matter, did they need byram? they are so poorly run and have been for years, across multiple GMs. but given what they are already spending on d, it's hard to see them wanting to pay byram too, as they are already spending nearly $20mm for top 2 left handed d and another $+ on samuelsson. not saying it can't be done, but it doesn't seem sustainable. and they don't have any wingers signed longterm either. now if they move power, their lineup would potentially be more balanced...

 

[BadgersandBlues]

Who knows wtf Buffalo is even thinking anymore. Why buyout Skinner if you're just going to sit on his 8+M capspace savings? I mean, I guess you could argue culture shit? I haven't ever heard anything toxic about him at all though. Why bring in a fourth lefthanded top 4 D? (Yes I know Dahlin plays his off-side, but that's still too many left handed guys.) Why trade a top 10 pick from two years ago for a younger Radek Faksa?

That entire org is a f***ing clown show. The only move they've made that they deserve any credit for at all is trading ROR for Tage. Yes I'm not counting drafting Dahlin and Power, they were the prospective BPA at 1st overall in their drafts. In fact, you could even argue that they f***ed up with Dahlin too, waiting on extending him and then watching Jones, Makar, Heiskanen, and finally Nurse reset the market for D-men in the summer of 2021 - only to bridge him and then have to pay him even more later.

Army should be calling them every day until they decide to give us Byram or Power just to get him to shut up

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Buffalo is one of the teams I've been eyeing for a chance to pick off a star. They've been a great farm team to the top teams in the West over past half dozen years, and I could see next summer them dealing either byram or power (not that they should, but that hasn't been the question for them for years). I'd love Cozens as 2c too, but that feels less likely.

Zackly! That is their purpose. The NHL may allow them to advance a little further one day.

 

[ezcreepin]

Who knows wtf Buffalo is even thinking anymore. Why buyout Skinner if you're just going to sit on his 8+M capspace savings? I mean, I guess you could argue culture shit? I haven't ever heard anything toxic about him at all though. Why bring in a fourth lefthanded top 4 D? (Yes I know Dahlin plays his off-side, but that's still too many left handed guys.) Why trade a top 10 pick from two years ago for a younger Radek Faksa?

That entire org is a f***ing clown show. The only move they've made that they deserve any credit for at all is trading ROR for Tage. Yes I'm not counting drafting Dahlin and Power, they were the prospective BPA at 1st overall in their drafts. In fact, you could even argue that they f***ed up with Dahlin too, waiting on extending him and then watching Jones, Makar, Heiskanen, and finally Nurse reset the market for D-men in the summer of 2021 - only to bridge him and then have to pay him even more later.

Army should be calling them every day until they decide to give us Byram or Power just to get him to shut up

Theoretically, they could build that team to be a massive contender in like 2 years tops. They have probably one of the best left sides you could dream of, even if they have 4 LH defenseman. You really only need two of those to be competitive seeing as though two of Dahlin, Power, Byram, and Samuelsson are more than capable of handling the first two pairs. Trade two of those guys for a legit #1 center and a serviceable 1st pairing RH defenseman/top end winger, supplant the core with free agents and some draft picks, and get an adequate goalie and you can easily compete. Obviously their management is terrible otherwise they'd be better than they are now, but you're exactly right. They've traded great players before. ROR, Eichel, Savoie, Mittelstadt, Reinhart, Montour, etc. Why not call them up and bother them? If they're willing to sell low on a guy like Savoie, surely you can do something of equal value for Power, Byram, or Samuelsson? We've got a ton of draft capital right now, and although I really don't want to get rid of any of our forward prospects, you have enough now to make moves like this. Even if our guys hit their ceiling, for all intents and purposes, it would be a hockey trade for both teams, just as the ROR trade was a hockey trade for Buffalo and St Louis.

 

[simon IC]

Edmundson to the Kings. 4 yrs at 3.8

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Edmundson to the Kings. 4 yrs at 3.8

He’s sure managed to carve out a nice career for himself.

 

[MissouriMook]

Edmundson to the Kings. 4 yrs at 3.8

He’s sure managed to carve out a nice career for himself.

Feels like 2 years too long and twice as much as he is worth. Which means he will inevitably terrorize us three times a year.

 

[Brian39]

I wonder if Buffalo has internally moved on from Samuelsson and will quietly shop him to eventually get the best deal possible. He's had tons of injuries in his short NHL career and Byram was acquired about a month after his most recent season-ender.

He really, really feels like the kind of guy we would target if he's being shopped.

He's a 6'4" physical and defensive LHD. He's only 24 years old, has no trade protection and is under contract at an AAV of $4.285M for 6 more seasons. He fits the next core/window perfectly from an age/contract perspective and his playstyle/position is a direct need (both on the current roster and in terms of building a long-term top 4.

He checks a ton of boxes as a player. He also feels like a guy we'd love.

He's the son of a Swedish NHLer who was born and raised in North America (just like our GM in waiting). He was developed in the USA and went the NCAA route. We've had a ton of NCAA guys through the years under Army and we currently have a huge amount of NCAA representation on the blueline in our organization (Parayko, Faulk, Krug, Leddy, Perunovich, and Kessel). His ceiling-to-AAV ratio certainly fits a 'death by a thousand cuts' blueline philosophy.

I have no clue what it would take for Buffalo to move him, but I'd definitely be interested. He won't be playing with a guy like Dahlin if he leaves Buffalo, but there is also a growing track record of guys taking the next career step after leaving Buffalo. I do see him as the potential to become a fringe-core (or directly core adjacent) piece. I'm not moving Kyrou for him in a straight up swap, but a package of non-essential assets like the Toews trade? Absolutely.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I'd pay a lot for Power or Dahlin. I don't think Samuelsson has enough upside to make a big trade for, and he also has a ton of injury risk. Byram is sort of similar with his injury risk, and his on-ice performance will make me scared to pull the trigger, but he certainly has upside.

I'm still not sure what exactly Buffalo is planning on doing with their d core.

 

[Brian39]

I'd pay a lot for Power or Dahlin.

I'd be very surprised if Buffalo would part with either of Power or Dahlin. That feels like a conversation where we ask for one, and Buffalo says, "Sure thing. It will just cost you Thomas, Dvorsky, Jiricek, and unprotected 1st round picks for the rest of the 2020s." Their extensions were signed less than a year ago and make them the 2 highest paid players on the team. I'm pretty unclear on Buffalo's overall vision, but the one thing I do feel comfortable saying is that they plan to build the next 7+ years around the two of them as their 1-2 punch on the blueline. I them making other D expendable, not the other way around.

I'd love to be wrong and get either of them, but I just don't think either is for sale unless you make such a ludicrous offer that you are clearly destroying your own franchise in the process.

I don't think Samuelsson has enough upside to make a big trade for, and he also has a ton of injury risk. Byram is sort of similar with his injury risk, and his on-ice performance will make me scared to pull the trigger, but he certainly has upside.

I'm still not sure what exactly Buffalo is planning on doing with their d core.

For me it depends on the definition of 'big trade.' I'm not putting Kyrou or one of our top prospects on the table for him. I'd be very hesitant to put a 1st on the table unless we can really dress up the conditions to kick it down the road multiple times if it is too high.

I'm not targeting him as the guy who you sell all your 'expendable' assets to take a shot on a franchise changer. But I also don't think that would be the market for him. I think the injury concerns (and the risk of that contract being a pain in the ass for a while) limit his value to a deal where teams aren't giving up a great asset as the centerpiece.

 

[shpongle falls]

Super jellie Buffalo has Dahlin and Power in their d core, that’s gonna be the best one-two punch in the league at some point. Would love to see the Sabers finally make the playoffs.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I'd be very surprised if Buffalo would part with either of Power or Dahlin. That feels like a conversation where we ask for one, and Buffalo says, "Sure thing. It will just cost you Thomas, Dvorsky, Jiricek, and unprotected 1st round picks for the rest of the 2020s." Their extensions were signed less than a year ago and make them the 2 highest paid players on the team. I'm pretty unclear on Buffalo's overall vision, but the one thing I do feel comfortable saying is that they plan to build the next 7+ years around the two of them as their 1-2 punch on the blueline. I them making other D expendable, not the other way around.

I'd love to be wrong and get either of them, but I just don't think either is for sale unless you make such a ludicrous offer that you are clearly destroying your own franchise in the process.


For me it depends on the definition of 'big trade.' I'm not putting Kyrou or one of our top prospects on the table for him. I'd be very hesitant to put a 1st on the table unless we can really dress up the conditions to kick it down the road multiple times if it is too high.

I'm not targeting him as the guy who you sell all your 'expendable' assets to take a shot on a franchise changer. But I also don't think that would be the market for him. I think the injury concerns (and the risk of that contract being a pain in the ass for a while) limit his value to a deal where teams aren't giving up a great asset as the centerpiece.

I think we are on a similar page with Samuelsson. He's the one most likely to be moved, I wouldn't want to give up anything major, and not sure where that leaves us with a deal.

 

[ezcreepin]

I wonder if Buffalo has internally moved on from Samuelsson and will quietly shop him to eventually get the best deal possible. He's had tons of injuries in his short NHL career and Byram was acquired about a month after his most recent season-ender.

He really, really feels like the kind of guy we would target if he's being shopped.

He's a 6'4" physical and defensive LHD. He's only 24 years old, has no trade protection and is under contract at an AAV of $4.285M for 6 more seasons. He fits the next core/window perfectly from an age/contract perspective and his playstyle/position is a direct need (both on the current roster and in terms of building a long-term top 4.

He checks a ton of boxes as a player. He also feels like a guy we'd love.

He's the son of a Swedish NHLer who was born and raised in North America (just like our GM in waiting). He was developed in the USA and went the NCAA route. We've had a ton of NCAA guys through the years under Army and we currently have a huge amount of NCAA representation on the blueline in our organization (Parayko, Faulk, Krug, Leddy, Perunovich, and Kessel). His ceiling-to-AAV ratio certainly fits a 'death by a thousand cuts' blueline philosophy.

I have no clue what it would take for Buffalo to move him, but I'd definitely be interested. He won't be playing with a guy like Dahlin if he leaves Buffalo, but there is also a growing track record of guys taking the next career step after leaving Buffalo. I do see him as the potential to become a fringe-core (or directly core adjacent) piece. I'm not moving Kyrou for him in a straight up swap, but a package of non-essential assets like the Toews trade? Absolutely.

Would honestly love to have him as a player. The injury history is a bit scary, but all of it can be sorted down into 3 injuries. MCL sprain, broken hand, shoulder problems. The MCL sprain is definitely a worry, but it doesn't seem to me that he has been dealing with that issue for some time. Broken hand is a broken hand, players will unfortunately get injured in this capacity at some point in their career. The shoulder issue is the most concerning since he dealt with that problem for largely the entire year. He just had surgery in February, but we've seen these things go both ways. Steen recovered fine, Tarasenko did not until his 3rd. The hope is that the problem is rectified and you have a legit top 4 defensive defenseman on your blueline who can certainly take some of the load off of Parayko. Samuelsson also mentioned about changing his training regimen to avoid more injuries like this, so he clearly is taking steps to insure he plays for a long time.

I'm not too keen on what Buffalo is looking for in a return if they were to trade him. The logical assumption would be someone like Neighbours seeing as they just traded for McLeod and Neighbours and McLeod are similar players stylistically. The question is, is that fair value for both sides? Top 4 (LH) defenseman for a potential 2nd line power forward? I personally think there is more in Neighbours' tank, so I'm not sure I'd be willing to part with the only guy who will screen the goalie and scored most of his goals in close. Perunovich and Alexandrov aren't going to get you close in a deal, though maybe if you package them you can offset a pick? Seems like we have a glut of goalies as well, so maybe you can package one of those in place of Alexandrov?

I don't think we have the type of players we'd be willing to trade for someone like that. I think I'd be willing to trade Buchinger and some scraps, but it seems like Buffalo is in need of offense, and I'm not willing to trade a young forward we have right now unless they are immediately our 1st pairing defenseman.

 

[Celtic Note]

I'd be very surprised if Buffalo would part with either of Power or Dahlin. That feels like a conversation where we ask for one, and Buffalo says, "Sure thing. It will just cost you Thomas, Dvorsky, Jiricek, and unprotected 1st round picks for the rest of the 2020s." Their extensions were signed less than a year ago and make them the 2 highest paid players on the team. I'm pretty unclear on Buffalo's overall vision, but the one thing I do feel comfortable saying is that they plan to build the next 7+ years around the two of them as their 1-2 punch on the blueline. I them making other D expendable, not the other way around.

I'd love to be wrong and get either of them, but I just don't think either is for sale unless you make such a ludicrous offer that you are clearly destroying your own franchise in the process.


For me it depends on the definition of 'big trade.' I'm not putting Kyrou or one of our top prospects on the table for him. I'd be very hesitant to put a 1st on the table unless we can really dress up the conditions to kick it down the road multiple times if it is too high.

I'm not targeting him as the guy who you sell all your 'expendable' assets to take a shot on a franchise changer. But I also don't think that would be the market for him. I think the injury concerns (and the risk of that contract being a pain in the ass for a while) limit his value to a deal where teams aren't giving up a great asset as the centerpiece.

Is he a guy we want to spend any significant assets on? I am not sure we need him to fill a hole as much as we might need those assets for a bigger hole. Lindstein and Jiricek neither project as a #1 in my opinion and finding a top 4 isn’t something I am worried about finding down the road. But we still need to find that #1D and I would want as many lottery tickets as possible to hope we find him, whether using them to draft a player or to trade for one with potential. Which is one of the reasons pissing away a 2nd round to move Hayes didn’t and still doesn’t make any sense. 1sts and 2nds should be off the table for anything that isn’t a major hole. We don’t have the assets we need yet nor the players we need to even consider pushing for better play now.

 

[Xerloris]

Would honestly love to have him as a player. The injury history is a bit scary, but all of it can be sorted down into 3 injuries. MCL sprain, broken hand, shoulder problems. The MCL sprain is definitely a worry, but it doesn't seem to me that he has been dealing with that issue for some time. Broken hand is a broken hand, players will unfortunately get injured in this capacity at some point in their career. The shoulder issue is the most concerning since he dealt with that problem for largely the entire year. He just had surgery in February, but we've seen these things go both ways. Steen recovered fine, Tarasenko did not until his 3rd. The hope is that the problem is rectified and you have a legit top 4 defensive defenseman on your blueline who can certainly take some of the load off of Parayko. Samuelsson also mentioned about changing his training regimen to avoid more injuries like this, so he clearly is taking steps to insure he plays for a long time.

I'm not too keen on what Buffalo is looking for in a return if they were to trade him. The logical assumption would be someone like Neighbours seeing as they just traded for McLeod and Neighbours and McLeod are similar players stylistically. The question is, is that fair value for both sides? Top 4 (LH) defenseman for a potential 2nd line power forward? I personally think there is more in Neighbours' tank, so I'm not sure I'd be willing to part with the only guy who will screen the goalie and scored most of his goals in close. Perunovich and Alexandrov aren't going to get you close in a deal, though maybe if you package them you can offset a pick? Seems like we have a glut of goalies as well, so maybe you can package one of those in place of Alexandrov?

I don't think we have the type of players we'd be willing to trade for someone like that. I think I'd be willing to trade Buchinger and some scraps, but it seems like Buffalo is in need of offense, and I'm not willing to trade a young forward we have right now unless they are immediately our 1st pairing defenseman.

I don't think trading Neighbors or someone like neighbors is a good idea for someone with such a big injury history.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

The Boqvist bros both end up in FLA. The Joseph bros are both in STL. That’s an extremely low-stakes set of signings I’ll be interested in watching this year.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Capfriendly is finally gone. :/

Took a few days longer than expected but all that’s left is a thank you page.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Well, I hate Washington Caps even more now.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Capfriendly is finally gone. :/

Took a few days longer than expected but all that’s left is a thank you page.

 

[mk80]

Well, I hate Washington Caps even more now.

Why hate them if they’re friendly?

 

[Ranksu]

Could this be best powerplay unite in NHL coming season?

Preds were last season 26th on powerplay 17.6%. That will improve big time.

 

[SirPaste]

Could this be best powerplay unite in NHL coming season?

Preds were last season 26th on powerplay 17.6%. That will improve big time.




View attachment 894074

There is no doubt that it should be much better than they were last year, but it won't be close to the best in the league. Probably good enough to get them somewhere in the 10-15 range

 

[PocketNines]

There is a Seattle Kraken flag on a flagpole on our new street in Puget Sound area. I wonder how much flagpoles, flagpole installation and Blues flags cost

Why hate them if they’re friendly?

underrated comment

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

There is a Seattle Kraken flag on a flagpole on our new street in Puget Sound area. I wonder how much flagpoles, flagpole installation and Blues flags cost


underrated comment

It's the modification to ensure that it's at least 1 foot higher than the other flagpole that gets ya.

 

[PocketNines]

It's the modification to ensure that it's at least 1 foot higher than the other flagpole that gets ya.

Oh that is no problem our house is above theirs and a flagpole of any size would fly a higher flag