Canucks & NHL News, Rumours, and & Fantasy GM | Urge to Frenzy…fading.

[Vector]

They will. Don't think it was ever a slam dunk that he'd play centre in the NHL. I saw him out and about a couple months ago, he's still a pretty skinny dude.

That's what I was trying to imply. There's been quite a few here that don't believe he can play C in the NHL and profiles as a skill offense-only winger.

 

[credulous]

ryan mcleod is a really solid middle six center. i like the trade for both buffalo and edmonton a lot

buffalo needs quality pros who can play a disciplined game to help out their legion of all upside forwards and edmonton needs a cost controlled forward with upside to help out their second line

who is making decisions for edmonton? they should just make them the gm, forget bowman

 

[ameselare]

That's what I was trying to imply. There's been quite a few here that don't believe he can play C in the NHL and profiles as a skill offense-only winger.

Oh yeah I know, sorry. My reply would have more sense if I had also included the post you were replying to - I was agreeing with you

who is making decisions for edmonton? they should just make them the gm, forget bowman

Jeff Jackson

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

What a f***ing terrible trade for Buffalo.

Complete disaster of a franchise.

 

[JT Milker]

ryan mcleod is a really solid middle six center. i like the trade for both buffalo and edmonton a lot

buffalo needs quality pros who can play a disciplined game to help out their legion of all upside forwards and edmonton needs a cost controlled forward with upside to help out their second line

who is making decisions for edmonton? they should just make them the gm, forget bowman

McDonkey.

 

[timw33]

The issue is you'd think they could do better than McLeod.

Yeah for sure, but also...they've got a lot of top prospects and there isn't room for them all, they have Benson/Quinn/Peterka on the NHL roster with Kulich/Rosen pushing hard from the AHL team, let alone Ostlund, they seemingly are making a decision that they already have enough smaller players and need to remedy that.

They have tons of D, they have 2 young goalies, but what's actually missing? Players who actually can handle tough minutes and chew up PK minutes while not being a complete black hole offensively. I think they are taking the calculated gamble that McLeod's age allows him to age naturally with their group and that his EDM defensive impact numbers are not a mirage.

 

[wonton15]

We should be calling Buffalo and offloading someone like Podkolzin for a higher upside offensive prospect

I can sort of see WHY Adams did that trade but he could’ve gotten a better player from another team surely. Is he ok?

 

[BoHorvat 53]

Because the Sabres are chock full of small, soft skill guys who are going to cap out as wingers and their number one need for the last few years has been adding a true matchup centre with excellent defensive, PK, and faceoff numbers and they just got it. They are actually addressing a glaring need instead of throwing more offence-only skill guys into the mix.

I think overall it makes sense I just think there's a lot of sticker shock around Savoie.

IMO this makes EDM worse next year and I'm really into that.

Savoie, long term, is going to be very good in Edmonton if he continues to develop the way he is, is what my issue is. He's a top-20 prospect in all of hockey imo - a legit blue-chipper. How do you only get that for him? If we traded Lekkerimaki for that, I'd honestly lose all faith in this management group.

 

[Baby Pettersson]

Wtf how did Edmonton with no GM just pull off the biggest robbery of the year?

 

[StreetHawk]

He's made one critical error: Pull up from the rebuild too quickly. The other mid-level signings just compound that first mistake.

I think what you're seeing is not specific to Yzerman, but most GMs that don't keep their team at the bottom long enough, and then can't execute the big swing to save themselves from missing talent while at the bottom.

Compare it to Allvin where you could say the best player they lost was Horvat and the best they brought in was maybe Hronek (is he better than Horvat?). It's really difficult acquiring talent at the top.

Business considerations as well. Wings moved into LCA right at the start of their decline. Unless Yzerman sold more players he wasn’t getting back into the bottom 5 again after Raymond selection in 2020. He’s banking on those extra 2nds and 3rds from 2019 onwards.

I expected Verbeek to do a bit more but he’s slow playing for now.

Not sure how much rope he’s given to be bottom 5 still. Full time GM for 2 seasons with a last and 3rd worst finish. He’s got prospects from Murray days in MacTavish and LaCombe. So not a bare cupboard.

That thread in the main board about who is tanking for McKenna. I’d say if you’re a gm for 3 seasons as of now and your team ends up bottom 5 in 2026, you probably are not the GM moving forward. Of the teams that drafted high then went onto win cups like chi, Pitt, TB and such I think only Lombardi in LA was the GM who drafted in the top 3 and was there as GM to win a cup. Tallon drafted Kane and Toews and moved down to advisor. Patrick was replaced by Shero.

So a gm’s window isn’t as long as some fans want it to be.

 

[credulous]

We should be calling Buffalo and offloading someone like Podkolzin for a higher upside offensive prospect

I can sort of see WHY Adams did that trade but he could’ve gotten a better player from another team surely. Is he ok?

podkolzin is exactly what buffalo don't need

 

[wonton15]

podkolzin is exactly what buffalo don't need

They just traded a blue chip for McLeod who is also someone they don’t REALLY need. Pro scouting there is very off

 

[Jerry the great]

This makes no sense.

for who?

 

[timw33]

Savoie, long term, is going to be very good in Edmonton if he continues to develop the way he is, is what my issue is. He's a top-20 prospect in all of hockey imo - a legit blue-chipper. How do you only get that for him? If we traded Lekkerimaki for that, I'd honestly lose all faith in this management group.

Here's the thing: Buffalo has like 6 guys who are as good or better than Lekkerimaki after this trade.

NHL: Quinn, Peterka, Benson (rookie)
AHL: Kulich, Rosen
SHL: Ostlund

Where are they all going to play on this roster? What does Buffalo actually need to pull out of this tailspin, is it more scoring wingers? No. Is it more young D? No. Is it a young goalie? No.

 

[StreetHawk]

They just traded a blue chip for McLeod who is also someone they don’t REALLY need. Pro scouting there is very off

Sabres have a boatload of high skilled smaller forwards. I mean following Po each season it’s not a lot of sub 6 footers out there performing.

So, you need to love a smaller player to take them early. Value probably doesn’t hold up over time.

 

[Vector]

for who?

Buffalo. I understand their reasoning and I'm not high on Savoie but McLeod is a very underwhelming return.

 

[cc]

Maybe there is a way to pry Ostlund from the Sabres