Are you sure Scott Gomez isn't just horrible?

Regardless, it's going to be an interesting season this year. I expect NJ not to suck ass like they did the first half of last year, so the Atlantic Division will be tough as well as the NE.

You got 360 or PS3?

ps3, really need to start playing it more tbh, need to get hooked up online.

I'm not concerned about staying under the summer cap. If MAG starts in Rochester, his salary isn't a concern, but they still need space for the other two. If Kotalik/Morrisonn are both bought out/waived/etc, it works. But I thought Pegula has said Kotalik is still an NHL player or something like that, so I assume he wants him on the roster, which is what worries me.

lol

....I was a little concerns with Pegula and his love of players etc but he loved Connolly and he is gone so it eased my mind a little, Regier and Ruff did say he will get a shot to earn a starting spot and he should of course having had his best years here so it could be interesting but I highly doubt he makes the team since he has the same skill set as compared to some other players who were much cheaper and they need to keep some Gritty McGrits out there.

I suppose on could say its going to be a competition between him and Boyes but Boyes can play C also so thats an edge.

Barring any other moves the lineup will end up very close to this:
Vanek - Roy - Pominville
Ennis - Leino - Stafford
Gerbe - Hecht - Boyes
McCormick - Gaustad - Kaleta

Regher - Leopold
Myers - Ehrhoff
Sekera/MAG - Weber

Miller
Enroth

That leaves 1.5m to play with for a 13th winger/injuries etc. I for one think Sekera will get dealt as he has most value right now and would free up another 1.5m for a 7th dman etc.... but who knows with deals yet to happen, we could see Boyes dealt still to a team looking to get to the cap floor etc or even Kotalik. I do know that Morrisonn definitely wants out via trade/waive etc

All these numbers are based on the RFAs signing for deals totaling around ~4m.

Through the time machine:

I have to imagine it looks a little better from STL's perspective after Stewart finished the year with 23 points in 26 games for them.

Nice foresight.

Thanks for that goofy. Seems like Erik Johnson is still being valued somewhat on expectation that he's never really justified. I'm really high on Chris Stewart. Other than the period of time after he came back from the broken hand, where he didn't seem to be completely recovered, he's just been great. Shattenkirk is really the X factor though. He put up points in pretty impressive bunches for a rookie defenseman. Might have been a fluke, or maybe Shattenkirk/Pietrangelo will end up being a tandem force from the blue line for years to come.

It's hard to say how a group of fairly young players will end up gelling, but I think they'll be pretty fun to watch.

Optimus Reim's new mask:

Is that real? F'ing sweet.

ya, i honestly cant say your wrong because ive never played an x box really. well, years ago but obv the technology is way different. Why is it so much better exactly?

Apparently not

I'm not into it enough to say one way or the other, all I know is that all the cool kids play on Xbox. I would assume they both have their drawbacks, as does anything.

yeah, but young D-men can still be salvaged, sometimes big ones like him don't really get good until they're into their 30's. so he's still got a lot of time left. i'm a little worried because he hasn't looked all that great, after seeming unbelievable before being drafted. he beasted that WJHC as a draft eligible player on the team with Jack Johnson, Kessel, Ryan, Oshie, Mueller, Wheeler, Skille, Schremp, Schneider, etc. but then again he did suffer a couple bad injuries after that, so who knows.

He could certainly prove me wrong in the years to come.

lol Zurvan, vwp.

Yeah I feel silly for having fell for it. Thankfully I caught on quickly enough not to waste that much time.

i look at that buffalo lineup and i think - wow, they're going to be making multiple moves before the season starts.

i can't stress how ******ed that brad boyes trade was

Well mostly because me, cwice, and goofy play on xbox.

my two 360s broke

****ty piece of ****ty piece of ****

As ******ed as it was it did show the fans etc that they were serious about making moves to improve the team even though it didn't improve them in the long run and the 4mil on the cap this year has hurt... hopefully him being in a contract year and being in the system for a year we can see some reasonable production.

This will be the first time in years their trade deadline acquisition will be around the following year (Torres, Bernier, Moore), well at least for now.

And what major issues do you see with their lineup?

Their defense is done and above average regardless of the final pairing

Their grit line of McCormick/Gaustad/Kaleta is just that, their 3rd line can produce scoring and if Boyes does anything it will be much better...

Their top 6 is still questionable as its more of 2 #2 lines at best with another converted winger at C. I do see their top line being better than previous since Vanek played a lot better on the back end and made a step last year in realizing he needs to actually work for his own scoring chances which should help out Roy and Pominville a lot.

It really comes down to whether or not Staffords 30goals were a fluke (4 hat tricks = big variance) and if Leino can match or improve on last years numbers etc.. Ennis is still young and has room to improve but I wish he had more size..

I think they will make the playoffs as defensively it will help a ton especially for Miller but they still have some of the same holes they have had up front which always pop up come playoffs so unless they make some deals its going to be the same old same old

I think you need to take positional scarcity into account. Look at how much money went to UFA D-Men this year, none of whom I'd want as a #1 D-man to build the team around. Scoring wingers are easier to come by, and a position the Avs are pretty deep at. David Jones has taken a step up the last couple years, and while he's no Chris Stewart, I don't think he's really that big of a dropoff. Mueller coming back would be nice for them too. Before the Johnson trade their #1 D-man was Adam Foote (who was old/injured last year and is now retired). The rest of the defensive corps had a couple small offensive guys, and a couple of scrubs. They were literally the worst defense in the league (both ES and PK). IIRC at the time of the trade they were scoring over 3 goals per game too. With a high-powered offense and league-worst defense, I can see why they wanted to make this type of move.

You're right that Johnson hasn't justified being the #1 overall pick so-far. You can see why they picked him though: he's big, skates well, and has a big slapshot. Unfortunately, he hasn't quite developed these talents into in-game skills. Looked like he was getting muscled off the puck too often for a guy of his size, and played comically bad on 2-on-1s. He made a few mistakes leading to PP goals too but I think the PK did improve after he got there. The "weak" plays were what bothered me most about his game, just don't see #1 guys get taken off the puck like that.

This is just from my observations though (biases etc...) not stats, so I could be completely off.

and then he played on the 4th line during the playoffs and is a contract albatross now. well done, regier.

sekera's not a third pairing defenseman and he won't be paid like one no matter what happens. gragniani showed well in the playoffs, he's waiver-eligible and would never make it through. morrisonn is being paid 1.9M to do what, exactly? and then kotalik. are they really going to bury 5M?

gaustad is not a 4th line center, he's not being paid like one, he doesn't play like one.

they were a fluke. ennis is going to be an excellent player though.

i think they're likely to make the playoffs, but the east is getting really hard, i wouldn't think they're more than 60% to make it.

agreed, but they took a shot they have never taken before which was good to see as a fan at the time

I assume you mean he is a top 4 and not someone who shouldnt make a top 6 and thats also agreeable but then who of the top 4 moves to a bottom pairing... this is why I think he gets dealt, MAG and him have a similar skill set while MAG will be cheaper...

Morrisonn wants out but no one will pick up that contract after the awful showing last year so he is waived, buried etc.

Yes they will bury that much, especially if Pegula keeps with his money doesnt matter motto.

Again I assume you mean he should be higher, mostly because of his FO and defensive ability... I could see him and Hecht flipping back and forth, though they do put Gaustad on the PP which is god awful since they play him in front and he has no ****ing hands at all

I hope not

What do you think his high end is? 25g 40a?

Again agreed, I can see them getting hot but thats the same for any team that makes the playoffs... 2012 is their year

I really think Buffalo is the sexy pick of the East this year (the Tampa Bay of 11-12, if you will). Improved offense, drastically improved defense and Ryan Miller when on his game is one of the best goalies in the NHL.