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I think its a matter of how long Tre's injury (which we know very little about), and to a lesser extent Max's injury, will create the need. Can't see BB making a deal to fill what is, to him, a one or two week gap. Having written that, I wish we weren't playing the Ravens in Wk 1 with a crippled secondary. In January we'll be looking back at the game as being a huge one (one way or the other) for playoff seeding purposes. Does/should that force Beane to make a move he otherwise doesn't want to make?

I do not agree about Rapp. His foot speed and recklessness are issues. He gets caught out of position and takes out teammates with friendly fire and will incur penalties for egregious hits. I like that type of player but this team can’t afford to have a player that keeps opponent’s drives alive with penalties and blown coverages. As far as Bishop is concerned, they drafted him in the 2nd round. He has to be a starter unless he’s a complete bust. I don’t think he’s proven anything either way yet, with injury and illness derailing most of his first two seasons to date. The 2nd CB spot is worrisome. With Tre and Max’s injuries, Dane Jackson or whoever isn’t going to cut it. Dorian Strong looks like a possible future solution but he’s not ready to start. They should trade for a starting CB immediately.

Zach Benson is in 24th on this list alongside names like Tim Stutzle (29pts), David Pastrnak (27pts), Cole Sillinger (31pts), and I would like to toss out Aleksander Barkov (24pts). We also have Alex Galchenyuk (27pts and Jesper Kotkoniemi (34pts) as maybe some less than great guys around there too. The list of players who played in the NHL at 19 for 40+ games is 100 players long.

I am very concerned about the Bills secondary. Taylor Rapp is decent at on safety. Damar Hamlin is not, he is slow and he is a bad tackler. The young kid, Cole Bishop, did not look very good either. They were counting on Bishop in year 2 and so far this gamble could turn into a problem. This group is a long way from the Hyde and Poyer duo. One CB spot is solid with Christian Benford, but the other spot is not. The rookie Maxwell Hairston is injured and he did not have much of a camp, Tre White is also out injured, so we have J'Marcus Ingram and Dane Jackson. They will get targeted a lot, but so will Hairston and White for that matter. The nickel spot is very solid with Taron Johnson backed up by Cam Lewis. Overall they lack experience and a top tier NFL starting caliber players.

Zemgus Girgensons was 21yrs old in his 2nd season and he played an entire AHL season at 18yrs old. In his 30pt season he averaged 19:05toi a game for 1163:51 total TOI for the year. His CF% was 37.8 but he was getting 58.5% dzone starts. His xGF% is 39.6% or -16.2 depending on how you want to look at the split. He had 0.8g/60 and 0.8a/60 but 0.5a/60 were secondary. Zemgus has never reached 30pts again and has never even reached 20 again. In fact Benson's first 2 season would ranked tied for 1st with zemgus and standalone in 2nd in terms of points. Zach Benson just completed his 2nd season at age 19 (he's about 1.5yrs younger than Zemgus was in his 2nd season). He has no AHL season previously. In his 28pt season he averaged 14:31toi a game for 1030:44 total TOI for the year. His CF% was 56.6% and he got 44.4% dzone starts. His xGF% was 52.65%or +3.7 depending on how you want to look at the splits. He had 36.8xGF compared to Zemgus' 30.8 in more ice time. Benson had 0.5g/60 and 1.0a/60 with 0.8a/60 as primary. To recap, a younger Zach Benson put up better assist numbers, better CF%, and better xGF% including a better xGF than Zemgus while being 1.5 years younger in only his 2nd, not 3rd pro season like Zemgus but this is the comparison you think makes your argument? What number of points would Zach Benson need to put up this year in order for you to "know" that playing the last 2 years in the NHL didn't stifle his offensive game? 50pts? 60pts? I am genuinely asking what would Benson have to produce this year?

When dealing with prospects and young players you are rarely certain how they will develop and what level of player they will be with the exception of the few ultra elite players. Whether Zemgus was rushed or not he would have turned out to be the same player that shown to be over a long career.

I need you to accept the invite to join the league. @Norcal @Andrew Amerk I need you guys to confirm ASAP if you’re playing this year.

Girgensons did show flashes of offensive upside in his first couple years. Benson has too. Unless he’s putting up 20 goals in the top six he can stay on the third line. Third liners aren’t bad players and he brings energy along with some offensive capabilities. When he’s 23-24 we’ll know better if he is a top six guy.

The list of players who played 40 games as an 18-year-old in the NHL this century is exactly 40 players deep. https://www.eliteprospects.com/league/nhl/stats/all-time-season?age=u19&from=2000-2001&sort=gp Show me this very, very long list of ruined players.

https://www.amerks.com/news/detail/amerks-sign-savage-to-two-year-ahl-contract

The list of players who entered the league too soon and never fully blossomed, is very very long. The list of players ruined because they played 1 or 2 more years in junior (or NCAA) post draft, is very short, if it even exists. If his career arc resembles that of Zemgus Girgensons, would that be satisfactory? Zemgus also had 30 points his sophomore year. I believe he would've grown his offensive game in junior more than he has is the NHL. That could've paid dividends down the road, but we'll never know.

they need some veteran rotational depth on the d-line for the first six games (at least).

They’ve done a ton of renovation to that building. When it first opened they still had the T lines elevated out front.

Jordan Phillips back again. 4th times the charm. Poyer and Hyde next 😛

I think TD Garden in Boston is actually older than the Arena in Buffalo, and it too, blows it away. It isn't the best place I have ever been, it it looks like a concrete box from the outside. However, they keep up with the condition of the seats much better, it just seems more loud/active in the arena bowl, the South entrance is really cool going into the arena, Its NICE that if you take a train to the arena it actually stops inside the arena (you don't have to go outside), and it just seems a lot more 'upscale' yet approachable. Again, I'm pretty sure its older tool.

Give me an eyeroll if you support Epstein.

Wasn't Quinn Golisano's main franchise representative when he bought the team? And because the owner believed he did a sterling good job in guiding the franchise out of its financial peril that he gave him a chunk of money when he sold the team to Pegula?

With respected to your comment about being able to learn when dominating at a lower level, that isn't the issue. The primary issue is whether he would have benefited more in the juniors or playing in the NHL. @LTS gave a strong argument why it made a lot of sense for him to play in the NHL given the rules that would have prohibited him from playing in the AHL. And there is another element to whether Benson would have benefited more in the juniors than the NHL i.e. physical development. It's more likely that the workout and training facilities and staff would be at a higher level in the NHL than it would have been in the juniors where a lot of his time would have been spent on buses.

To the bolded. It might be true, to a degree. But I largely reject the notion. I mean, is anybody seriously arguing that Benson would have dominated junior hockey as an 18 year old more than McDavid dominated the NHL as a 24-25 year old? And, is anybody seriously arguing that McDavid stopped learning once he started dominating the NHL? The list of players who dominated lesser competition for a year or two in junior, post-draft, and who then went on to have great NHL careers is very long. Very long. Benson, in my view, is the sort of player who would have found many things in his game to improve on whether he was in junior, college, the AHL, or the NHL. He's not the sort of kid who would have pouted, or got lazy, or forgot about the defensive side of the game.

In fairness to Quinn (shakes like Lurch, uuuuuggggggghhhh) on the cheapness. Need to remember this building was built at a time that the Knoxes were slowly bringing the Criminal on as a minority partner to help with cashflow issues as expenses were increasing exponentially and though the Knoxes were rich, they weren't THAT rich. So, that explains getting essentially a duplicate of the Staples Center but with blue seats instead of purple and only 1 ring of boxes instead of 3 and no full ring video message board. That board that goes all the way around now didn't come in until Golisano bought the team. But Quinn's disdain for the "commoner" was evident in items such as his insistance on using metal bars at the front of the 300s rather than glass like there was from day one in front of the 200s and the boxes. "Glass is unsafe for the 300s" was the arsehole's reasoning. But yet, somehow it's perfectly safe with the metal posts coming out of the concrete up there held in by welded wings off the posts. The metal bars lasted until the team's 1st extended road trip. When the team was back, fans came back to the newly installed glass that still had metal posts coming up to partially block the view of roughly every 3rd person in the 1st or 2nd row of the 300s. It was also his decision to just have handicapped seating be considered good enough by sticking those wheelchair bound behind those sitting in the 1st 2 rows of the 300s every so often. So, after a lawsuit that he lost, they started blocking off seats in the 1st 2 rows of the 300s so that those that were wheelchair bound wouldn't have their views obstructed when people stood up. Heck of a job there, Quinny, heck of a job. Wouldn't put it past him to have been the impetus for buying substandard pulleys to raise and lower the scoreboard resulting in the famous videoboard crash postponing a Bruins game back in the day. Hey, we saved a few bucks and insurance covered the replacement of the jumbotrons, so all good, right? He was given an edict to build the barn cheaply; and he got 'er dun.

Oh yea... sure right. Can't wait until the midterms when they "help" at polling places in a "supporting role"

The flaw in this argument is that he's been in Buffalo during his critical developmental years. He has not played any years in the NHL where he would be beyond his critical developmental years and as such you cannot predict whether it's stunted his growth or not. If he had played the past two years in juniors then he would have been a player who played in juniors with no NHL stats and a question of whether it would translate. Then we'd talk about him being 21-23 and his early growth years in the NHL and still be trying to project his growth and what he would be when he hits 24. The only way to know how this has impacted him won't be known for another few years and even then you won't know what could or could not have happened. He may never have been the player you think he was supposed to be. And the problem with staying in juniors is that if he's too good for that level, then it does not benefit him to play there either. You learn nothing by dominating lower competition. The thing is, I don't think anyone would argue that the AHL was where he would have been best served but because of the system (not the team) he was unable to get there. The system could have failed him, but the Sabres did what they could which was play him in the NHL. And given his ability to stand toe to toe (he won't really ever be eye to eye) with some pretty tough people in the NHL, I don't think it's harmed him at all.

Interesting times. I wonder if the NG will be conducting law enforcement operations or if they're be working with ICE in a supporting role.

Interesting points. Leave it to Larry Quinn. The St Louis arena was built in 1994 and Buffalo's was built in 1996. In every aspect I can think of the St Louis arena is superior and it is still in great condition today. The main level corridors are wide with an open and comfortable feel, and they have more restrooms and more concessions. They also have more suites, they have more room walking room and concessions on every level. Most important is the seating is steeper, like the old Aud, so you seem to be closer to the ice even in the 300's. The place is extremely loud when the crowd gets going - I never looked at the ceilings to compare them- I attributed the loud and intimate feeling to the steeper design. We were in the first few rows of the 300's and my wife commented that it reminded her of her tickets in the Aud - that was a compliment, she loved the feel of that place and the overall experience. The last time I was there I was amazed at how much nicer it is than Keybank, especially since they were built in the same time period. Since a new arena in Buffalo is not in the near term plans they should fix up what they have.

https://www.facebook.com/BuffaloBatHabitat/videos/1025967066117751/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v