Paul Woods mentions possible Owen Power to Sabres after Olympic break
Pretty much what the title says. Was listening to the broadcast tonight and they were talking about things coming together for the Sabres and Woods casually mentions Owen Power may join the team after the Olympic break. Hadn’t heard that before, and doesn’t look like it’s been mentioned anywhere but seemed interesting enough to post.
January 29th, 2022 at 11:03 PM ^
We can't have nice things.
January 29th, 2022 at 11:06 PM ^
Ugh. This day just keeps going downhill.
January 29th, 2022 at 11:13 PM ^
The Sabres are 20 points out of a playoff spot, no way they'd use a year of player control on Power this year.
January 29th, 2022 at 11:18 PM ^
I dunno. Power is likely to sign right after the college season anyway, and teams will often put freshly signed college players in the lineup for a couple of late regular season games. If Buffalo has this in mind, they might think that it's better just to bring him straight in then to send him back to Ann Arbor for a couple of weeks. I hope not, but the Olympic break really does put a weird gap in the season and this would be a bad outcome.
I'm not sure that years of player control works like that, either; it would be an issue in baseball, but I don't know what the NHLPA CBA rule is.
January 29th, 2022 at 11:32 PM ^
19 year olds can play in 9 games without burning a year of an entry level contract. The Sabres have...9 scheduled games after the Frozen Four.
January 29th, 2022 at 11:40 PM ^
Just saw that. Actually went to the CBA, found this quote on page 23:
In the event that an 18 year old or 19 year old Player signs an SPC with a Club but does not play at least ten (10) NHL Games in the first season under that SPC, the term of his SPC and his number of years in the Entry Level System shall be extended for a period of one (1) year
The first of those nine games is actually the Sunday after the Saturday national championship, so if Michigan makes the final there is, realistically, eight games.
So you're absolutely right. It would be foolish for Buffalo to push to add Power for a rump year to give him some NHL time. The only feasible way they'd do that is if Power pushed to sign, which I suppose is possible, but not likely. The only reason Buffalo would want to accelerate the time table would be to get Power to Rochester to get some more AHL time under team control.
Neither of those scenarios are things that would prompt chatter that Paul Woods would hear that would cause him to speculate that Power would go to Buffalo after the break.
In short, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
January 30th, 2022 at 7:03 AM ^
I lean towards thinking this is flimsy speculation, but I don’t think the door is closed.
I’m reading the rule as saying that actually playing in NHL games counts, not being signed. As I read it, he could sign tomorrow, practice with the team the rest of the season but be a healthy scratch until the last 9 games and still have his number of years in the entry level system extended.
January 29th, 2022 at 11:47 PM ^
Exactly bringing him in after the Olympics would completely burn a year on a team going no where. I can see signing him after the frozen four but doing it before then would not be wise, especially since they told him to stay at UM for this season. Don’t see any validity to this story
January 31st, 2022 at 12:42 PM ^
Power isn’t leaving until Michigan’s season is done. He’s already said one of his goals is to compete for a National Championship. He got screwed out of World Juniors, he isn’t leaving after the Olympic Break unless Michigan is out of the National Championship picture.
January 29th, 2022 at 11:21 PM ^
Exactly this.
January 29th, 2022 at 11:16 PM ^
That would be the dumbest move the Sabres have ever made, and considering it’s the Sabres, thats saying something.
No way you waste a year of an ELC on less than half a season when you’re 20 points out of a playoff spot.
January 30th, 2022 at 9:31 AM ^
The Sabres are the Lions of the NHL. In the last 5 years, they have made at least 4 asinine trades.
January 29th, 2022 at 11:17 PM ^
Why would the sabres even do that? So Owen can join them for a few weeks of another lost season? Id be shocked if thr Sabres did something so dumb. But then again it is the Sabres org…
January 29th, 2022 at 11:31 PM ^
I want to shoot the messenger...
January 29th, 2022 at 11:47 PM ^
I met Paul Woods years ago at a courthouse in downtown Detroit when Billy Sims was suing the Lions. I sat in the courtroom and later ran into Woods in the hallway. He was really nice, but his lawyer basically shooed me away. Much better, though, then when I tried to talk to Denis Potvin at the Ren Cen. The nicest of all the athletes I ever ran into was Gates Brown.
January 29th, 2022 at 11:54 PM ^
I meant the OP lol
January 30th, 2022 at 1:39 AM ^
I'm jk wesq!
January 29th, 2022 at 11:46 PM ^
I'll wait until a reliable source publishes something. What Woods said sounds like speculation.
January 29th, 2022 at 11:47 PM ^
Based on the reasoning in this thread (and hope), I'm inclined to agree.
January 29th, 2022 at 11:46 PM ^
FWIW, sometimes if you search on twitter and click the "latest" tab you'll get pretty much everything, junk and all, and with rumor stuff you might see some of the noise that's behind it, especially when there's real stuff there. I've done that before for rumors I see on the board here and sometimes learned stuff, or at least seen chatter.
There's zero on twitter about this. Nothing. Not a rumor, no one even saying what Paul Woods just said. Not worth much, but there it is.
January 30th, 2022 at 1:38 AM ^
Fuck Paul Woods and the Sabres. The Sabres can have him after we hang a banner.
January 30th, 2022 at 2:15 AM ^
I’ve listened to a bit of Red Wings radio, and Paul Woods has sounded a little out-of-touch in recent years. I wouldn’t put much stock in this. As a lot of you already mentioned, it’s pretty customary for teams to bring up a player for a maximum of 9 games (so they don’t burn the first year of an entry level contract). I can’t recall a time an NHL team has ever asked an NCAA player to sign before their respective NCAA season ended. Unless an NHL team is in a playoff race and needs reinforcements (which Buffalo is not), there is no reason to rush. In fact, I’ve heard many GMs say they want their prospects to get experience playing in playoff atmospheres (such as the SHL Playoffs, the Calder Cup Playoffs, and the Frozen Four). So unless Power is super disgruntled/wants off the team, he’ll sign with Buffalo after U of M wins the natty or is eliminated from contention.
January 30th, 2022 at 8:52 AM ^
I've read all the comments about how many games you can play without wasting a year, etc. However, it is my judgement that Owen Power does not choose to come back for his sophomore year, after a year of the team having to miss the tournament due to COVID, and then play most of his sophomore year just to bail prior to the tournament.
Just don't see it happening, and this is all the reasoning I have.
January 30th, 2022 at 8:58 AM ^
Power opted to come back to Michigan for two specific reasons: 1) to play at Yost with a full house; 2) to play in the tournament. Would he consider telling Buffalo to pack sand until the FF was over? If he hasn't signed with them (sounds like he hasn't), why wouldn't he just wait a week, or so?
What could the Sabres do if he actually did that? They aren't going to release him - he'd sign with some other team in a heartbeat.
January 30th, 2022 at 10:01 AM ^
I was thinking this exact same thing. He wanted the experience and so did the rest that came back. I would think they will finish what they started.
Go Blue!!
January 30th, 2022 at 9:11 AM ^
paul woods - nice guy, former red wing, captain for a couple of years.
paul woods - not a good announcer. much like jim price, the tigers' radio color guy.
January 30th, 2022 at 5:40 PM ^
Might sense if hickey program does have a culture problem