ZZamboni
Puttin' on the Foil
With all the alleged offers flying around, it wouldn't surprise me if the first 3 or 4 picks don't move at all.
AE
SR
SB
LD
AE
SR
SB
LD
If Sabres take Ekblad then Myers is out the door.
Maybe, but Myers still brings something no one else on the team or in the system does. .
They do? News to me.
What?
We want someone of the Toews/Kopitar/Bergeron ilk......
Just off the top of my head, in recent years we have Seguin, Jeff Carter (x2), Mike Richards, Jordan Staal (unique circumstance admittedly), JVR, Nash, James Neal, Bobby Ryan, Kovalchuk as players all in the same age-range and contract status that I would think the Sabres would be interested in. (I know people are going to dig apart each individual player and trade I'm mentioning here. Whatever, such is HF. My point is that forward targets will be available).
In the Ekblad scenario, don't you think Murray could sit on his pile of gold until the player he wants and the terms he likes are available.
Or, as I'm told, since they'll probably be pretty bad this year, they can get that player in 2015
so mostly wingers and goal scorers... not a franchise carrying center (aside from MAYBE Seguin)....
not to mention, only the LA moves led to a cup, and that was acquiring guys in support roles.... already having Kopitar in place.
I do worry that trading D for F would be easier in theory than in practice.
Just look at the Howard and Jeremy dream this morning of Myers+_____ for the 3rd pick. I think that is much better in theory than it will be if the Sabres make that offer to the Oilers.
If the Sabres end up with Ekblad, I'm not all that worried that there won't be a D for F trade out there; young forwards of the ilk the Sabres would want get moved almost every single season. Obviously the concern would be making the right deal but that will always be the case.
Additionally, if the Sabres end up with Ekblad, time is still on Murray's side. There would be no immediate pressure to move anybody until the deal he wants comes along. Heck, even if Ehrhoff wants out and that gets accommodated, there can still be another deal centered around one of Myers/Ristolainen/Zadorov/Ekblad/Pysyk*/McCabe* out there somewhere.
*I'm of the opinion these guys wouldn't be centerpieces of such a deal, but for these purposes I'm lumping all the desirable defensemen together.
They do? News to me.
Trade Acquisitions are usually the "final piece" moves... rarely the building block move.
Additionally, if the Sabres end up with Ekblad, time is still on Murray's side. There would be no immediate pressure to move anybody until the deal he wants comes along.
True
But 2 of them would've put us in a much better position.
Top 3 calibre forwards only get moved if there are serious questions about them or the team that drafted them has a brain cramp.
A quick history...
All I stated was that I believe the opportunity to make a D-for-F trade will available, should the Sabres wish to pursue it. The market will determine if the availability matches the (Sabres') demand. Your other comments about LA's moves and positions etc, are all attempts to start an argument about a point I'm not making.
Oh, you were just stating that D can be traded for F
my bad
the context of the D for F trade... under the "take Ekblad" scenario... is that the D for F trade fills the need that passing on the Centers at the top of the draft would've filled.
come on now
Yes, that's precisely what I'm stating.
You are welcome to try to frame my statement post hoc any way you wish and argue with yourself under the guise that it is with me, who am I to stop you? But it doesn't mean you're actually arguing with me over what I've written.
I missed this one earlier, sorry JimBob. My response is, of course that's true, teams don't trade those kind of players unless there's a (potentially bad) reason. Maybe it will work out or not, but to get back to the Ekblad point, if they take Ekblad over the forward, I hope part of that justification is that a downstream trade will bring back a forward who is/will be better than what they think Bennett or Draisaitl will be.
And my concern is that while there are some examples of top 2/3 Fs getting moved down the road, it is never the guys that work out really well.
Guys like Malkin, Toews, etc. never move.
What would worry me about taking Ekblad at 2 is that the Sabres would never get to move a D for a F that is equivalent to the Best Forward Available to them at 2 whether it is SR, SB, or LD.
Sorry, I interpreted your statement as if it was made under the same context as Jimbo's statement (to which you were replying)
one of us interpreted your position correctly
And my concern is that while there are some examples of top 2/3 Fs getting moved down the road, it is never the guys that work out really well.
Guys like Malkin, Toews, etc. never move.
What would worry me about taking Ekblad at 2 is that the Sabres would never get to move a D for a F that is equivalent to the Best Forward Available to them at 2 whether it is SR, SB, or LD.
Such as....? Ristolainen and Zadorov may be a few inches shorter but each have the mobility and reach that Myers does yet both play far more physically to their size. They also each possess a better, heavier shot than Myers. Plus, the apparent offensive skill that Myers flashed in his rookie year seems now to be more of an aberration than a norm - the visions of Myers growing into an offensive contributor like Chara or Pronger seem remote at best.
While we don't know how mentally tough either Ristolainen or Zadorov will be, we do know that Myers more often than not has had problems keeping his confidence or handling adversity.
No they don't
Say with a bit of razzle-dazzle Buffalo walks out of this draft with Ekblad, Barbashev, and Ho-Sang without moving one of next year's firsts/ehrhoff/myers/etc. How do we feel about that?