LD Owen Power - Univ. of Michigan, NCAA (2021 Draft)

[sufferer]

What the heck!? I hope we can get heckin' Buchnevicherino for the pick!

 

[cleveland408]

What if he also goes back for his Junior year and another Adam Fox situation develops?

If I were Buffalo I would want to get him signed as soon as possible.

I'm hoping he goes back to Michigan and another Fox scenario happens. I don't dislike Buffalo, I just want that for Owen Power's sake.

 

[BloFan4Life]

I'm hoping he goes back to Michigan and another Fox scenario happens. I don't dislike Buffalo, I just want that for Owen Power's sake.

You want Owen Power to lose millions of dollars, for his "sake".

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

You want Owen Power to lose millions of dollars, for his "sake".

Lose some in the short term to potentially earn more later on a good team and also be the master of his own destiny.

If he says GFY to Buffalo then he might lose 2 years ELC pay. On a better team with a better supporting cast he's going to (wait for it...) look better. And if he looks better then he'll earn even more money to make up for those lost years!

 

[Brodeur]

I don't think there's necessarily a right or wrong decision with whether he goes back to school with regards to hockey. From a human standpoint, I could totally understand the allure of having a normal year of college. Few of my friends have kids who are wrapping up their freshman years and they've lamented how campus life wasn't what it normally would have been. I'm not saying Power would go full Matt Leinart, but having a year of the standard college life is worth experiencing.

I also had forgotten how Michigan didn't get to participate in the National Tournament this year due to some positive Covid tests. I can only imagine that being a pretty rough way to end your only college season.

While they weren't as highly touted (and were upperclassemen), a few of the North Dakota guys could have gone pro after the 2020 tournament was cancelled but decided they wanted to take one more crack at it as a group. I wonder if that's a conversation that the Michigan guys have had.

Mix in the chance to be a key guy on Canada's WJC squad and staying at school next season might make sense for Power. And he could always turn pro after Michigan's season is wrapped up.

 

[Osakahaus]

Owen power has every right to reject going to the NHL when he's still in college. let him mature and develop for a year

 

[JiricekSaveUs]

Looks like he’s probably going to play his last 3 years of eligibility and hit the FA pool rather than play in Buffalo

 

[EichHart]

Lose some in the short term to potentially earn more later on a good team and also be the master of his own destiny.

If he says GFY to Buffalo then he might lose 2 years ELC pay. On a better team with a better supporting cast he's going to (wait for it...) look better. And if he looks better then he'll earn even more money to make up for those lost years!

Yeah because all the good teams stay good forever and all the bad teams stay bad forever. Doesn't work like that. The Sabres will not indefinitely be a bad team. The Hawks and Penguins were terrible teams for years until they weren't anymore.

 

[Osakahaus]

Yeah because all the good teams stay good forever and all the bad teams stay bad forever. Doesn't work like that. The Sabres will not indefinitely be a bad team. The Hawks and Penguins were terrible teams for years until they weren't anymore.

The sabres need to get back to the basics. they need an ownership that doesn't handicap them in general

 

[Kcoyote3]

Will never understand not immediately signing an ELC if offered

 

[EichHart]

The sabres need to get back to the basics. they need an ownership that doesn't handicap them in general

Well that same ownership group turned the 18 year playoff drought Buffalo Bills into yearly Superbowl contenders. Kim Pegula needs to stay out of hockey. The Pegulas think they know more about hockey then great hockey minds. They know that they know nothing about football and accepted it. They need to hire a director of hockey ops and stay the heck away from the team.

 

[Bond]

Might just be posturing to avoid getting picked by the Sabres. Can't see him holding out all the way through college. Way more likely he busts then follows Fox's path.

 

[Osakahaus]

Well that same ownership group turned the 18 year playoff drought Buffalo Bills into yearly Superbowl contenders. Kim Pegula needs to stay out of hockey. The Pegulas think they know more about hockey then great hockey minds. They know that they know nothing about football and accepted it. They need to hire a director of hockey ops and stay the heck away from the team.

which is an issue for the sabres. they're facing the same stuff that plauges teams in general. the oilers also lack this too

 

[bigdog16]

That will be his choice. He can do whatever he wants until he signs with Buffalo; it's just that going back to Michigan without their approval might earn him a negative reputation around the league and create tension between him and the front office.

That's why I expect his agent (sorry, 'representative') to talk them into it behind closed doors. These public statements Power is making about going back to college are the opening salvos.

Power is not ready for the NHL and Michigan is a better place to develop and dominate than the AHL. If the experience of ruining Ristolainen's development and almost ruining Dahlin's development by rushing them into the NHL out of greed isn't enough to temper Buffalo's expectations, then they deserve to blow another high draft pick.

Sabres fans who worry about Power pulling an Adam Fox need to get some perspective ASAP, and I'm saying this as a Flames fan. A prospect of Power's stature is not going to hide out in college for three more years. It's absolutely not going to happen. Players want to play in the NHL as soon as they're ready, which was also the case for Fox. If Power hates your organisation that much, he'll demand a trade like Eichel and Reinhart did and there's no unfair labour practice NHL teams can exploit to stop players from doing that. At some point it's on the franchise to foster an environment players want to be in.

Of course its technically “his choice”. But lets be real here, its not his choice...He will do whatever the team tells him to do

 

[CowbellConray]

Lose some in the short term to potentially earn more later on a good team and also be the master of his own destiny.

If he says GFY to Buffalo then he might lose 2 years ELC pay. On a better team with a better supporting cast he's going to (wait for it...) look better. And if he looks better then he'll earn even more money to make up for those lost years!

Realistically he loses 5-10 million for taking three years of ELC and playing college instead. Then add the potential of signing a large deal for playing well on a poor team (something Eichel, Reinhart, and Dahlin have all done) as opposed to signing a decent deal because you aren’t NHL proven, he would potentially leave another 5-10 million. Lastly, team control (RFA vs UFA) can factor into what he would get. And that assuming the Sabres don’t show ANY growth for the 6-7 years he would be within team control.

he could be losing out on closer to 10-20 million than two ELC years

 

[ColbyChaos]

Yeah because all the good teams stay good forever and all the bad teams stay bad forever. Doesn't work like that. The Sabres will not indefinitely be a bad team. The Hawks and Penguins were terrible teams for years until they weren't anymore.

Sabres are certainly putting that theory to the test though with virtually no improvement over 10 years despite landing a franchise center

 

[ColbyChaos]

Will never understand not immediately signing an ELC if offered

Because if he signs he would need to stay there until he is 27 or when he has done 7 years of service. That’s a long time to have your career stalled in an org notorious for being awful at developing players

 

[covfefe]

Will never understand not immediately signing an ELC if offered

Cost certainty vs cost uncertainty. I definitely get it. Not sure I buy the original report though.

 

[tsujimoto74]

The sabres need to get back to the basics. they need an ownership that doesn't handicap them in general

You're referring to the owners who took the Bills from a 17-year playoff drought to Superbowl contenders?

 

[John Pedro]

Devils should try and make a move to get him if the Sabres are uncertain about his intentions of playing there. Devils need a big minute muncher just like him and Brandt Clarke.

 

[Panthaz89]

Sabres are certainly putting that theory to the test though with virtually no improvement over 10 years despite landing a franchise center

well the team did improve but with everything went bad this season nearly all the teams would of finished at the bottom with all their goalies getting hurt and losing several key players throughout the season and Eichel was gone after 21 games. Its not like the core isn't decent enough to challenge for a WC spot Ullmark had a winning record with the team(or even if you count OTL as regulation losses).

 

[flashsabre]

Can we put this silly narrative to rest. Here is his TSN interview from 2 days ago:

“That said, the Mississauga, Ont. native made it clear he would welcome the chance to join the Sabres.

"It'd be awesome," he said. "It's nice and close to home, so lots of family would be able to come down ... I would go to games when I was younger and watch the Leafs versus Sabres down in Buffalo. Obviously, it's two big fan bases and a pretty good rivalry."

Power solidified his spot atop the draft rankings at the recent IIHF World Championship, averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time per game while helping Team Canada win an unlikely gold medal. Power spoke to TSN about his experience in Latvia and also revealed what he'll be working on this summer.”

He was talking about going back to Michigan over a month ago on a Hockey News interview, well before the draft lottery. It is the best thing for his development anyways.

So stop the garbage that he is doing so he doesn’t have to play for Buffalo.

 

[Osakahaus]

You're referring to the owners who took the Bills from a 17-year playoff drought to Superbowl contenders?

Hands off approach. let the hockey men do their thing

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Looks like he’s probably going to play his last 3 years of eligibility and hit the FA pool rather than play in Buffalo

Sure.

 

[Legion34]

Can we put this silly narrative to rest. Here is his TSN interview from 2 days ago:

“That said, the Mississauga, Ont. native made it clear he would welcome the chance to join the Sabres.

"It'd be awesome," he said. "It's nice and close to home, so lots of family would be able to come down ... I would go to games when I was younger and watch the Leafs versus Sabres down in Buffalo. Obviously, it's two big fan bases and a pretty good rivalry."

Power solidified his spot atop the draft rankings at the recent IIHF World Championship, averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time per game while helping Team Canada win an unlikely gold medal. Power spoke to TSN about his experience in Latvia and also revealed what he'll be working on this summer.”

He was talking about going back to Michigan over a month ago on a Hockey News interview, well before the draft lottery. It is the best thing for his development anyways.

So stop the garbage that he is doing so he doesn’t have to play for Buffalo.

He spends a lot of time talking about the leafs in that clip. Looks like 4 years to ufa and Toronto