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They REALLY need 1 more F to make this work as they absolutely will deal with injuries and there are just so many guys that might not live up to the roles they get assigned to paly. Not a huge fan of Rust at this point, but bringing him in gives Ruff so much more flexibility than he currently has especially when the plan has to get revised in real time. And he should be available at a price Adams can find palatable.

I believe everything written on the internets 🤭

Kind of. Apparently after playing in Europe for a few years, he came back stateside and worked out a deal to sign an AHL deal with the Amerks. He played the next year for Binghamton.

I wouldn’t be shocked to see Lindy use a base like he did 20 years ago: Thompson is his Briere, Tuch his Drury. Each anchors a complete, 2-way line he is comfortable icing against an opponents best line, something he didn’t have when he kept running out Cozens, Peterka and Quinn in his top 6 for the first half of last year. Theoretically, a Tuch/McLeod duo is going to be winning a lot of their matchups. Add Greenway as the Grier if you want to lean defence, Zucker as the Kotalik for offence. Benson seems ideal as the Hecht to Tage’s Briere. @mjd1001 says Kulich works as their centre. I’d feel more comfortable with Norris as more high-end option, but if he’s right about Jiri all the better. Then you can shelter Quinn on a unit as your Vanek, with Doan as his forechecker and defensive conscience. Krebs and Danforth can anchor a pesky energy line with whoever isn’t with Tuch, or be reliable plug-ins where needed. Malenstyn’s the spare.

The last thing this team needs is another timeline, especially one that KA is trying to manage. Of the available options (that we know about), Robbie is the best answer. KA has exactly what Dallas wants, but it's the futures that he holds so dearly. If the end result were to be another rebuild, I fear that the Buffalo Sabres would no longer exist. The swirl would become the flush and the franchise would end up somewhere else.

By ice time, absolutely. By role, depends on how they're being defined. is your 2C your 2nd most used and 2nd most important C? If so, no 2 ways about it, with a healthy Norris, McLeod has to be the 2C. Are you defining it as the 2nd offensive C, with the 3C being the checking C? If so, like Kulich there. Definitely like him being pencilled in there better than being pencilled in as the 1C. (Don't care how good his analytics looked next to Thompson; when the top teams were driving the net, he couldn't stop / slow them down. It isn't fair to him to force him into that role again this year unless he's REALLY ready for a true breakout year.) Don't like Kulich pencilled in as the checking C either. 2C or if we're surprised and Adams has a top 6C up his sleeve (yeah, right) even at 2LW is where hopefullly he'll be slotted in to start the year.

But none of that really matters as long as the players are effective in the roles they are placed in. That so many of these players will now be in their 2nd year with Ruff theoretically will help both him to slot them where they belong and for them to understand what is expected of them. Have no faith in this coaching staff beyond Ruff, and his willingness to roll it all back a 2nd time reduces the faith in him too. Realizing goal scoring wasn't this team's issue last year (though it was on the PP and it was an issue 2 years ago) but would really feel a lot better about this lineup if they could even land a Rust to give them 3 true top 6W's with anywhere from 1-3 additional guys that COULD be legit (or at worst reasonable) top 6W's should all stay healthy. Whether McLeod is called the 2C or the 3C, he does lock down the lock down C role. Primary goal scorer is locked down. One top 6 PF is locked down. Would say at least 1, if not 2, of the 4th liners are locked down. How well the other EIGHT slots get covered really will make or break this year (almost as importantly as has the 1G been locked down) and IMHO moreso than how well the D has been revamped because you're still going to have Dahlin on the ice 24 minutes / night which will cover a lot of issues that might remain back there.

I feel better about McLeod at 2c than Kulich

And we should feel fine with McLeod written in as the defensive 2-way C centering the "checking" line. But expect that line will be a legit 2 way line if the coaches are even remotely creative.

And IF Norris can stay healthy AND Kulich doesn't have any of the sophomore slump, the Sabres could actually have a good C spine. But they REALLY need to stay healthy AND they can't regress (even a smidge) and that includes Krebs there. One more item Adams MIGHT have in OK condition, but soooooo many things have to break his way for us to be able to say it is.

None of that was known at the time I would have told him to go pound sand. And after he tried playing me like that, I’d have been just as inclined to tell him, anyway.

I think fans generally lock themselves into a hierarchy-style lineup where you need to have a certain level of talent to qualify on a certain slot on the depth chart and play with other players of similar stature. Which is ridiculous of course. Coaches employ lines to play roles and those lines change game to game and shift to shift based on a multitude of factors. The last time the Sabres were good, the “3rd line centre” was 5th among forwards in ice time and the “1st line RW” was 7th. The “3RW” led the team in scoring. The previous good team the “3rd line centre” led the team in ice time.

Certainly it’s something I’m guilty of. But even allowing for the presence of that bias, how comfortable should we be slotting in McLeod as a 2C given his track record? Which is essentially one season. (For those wondering, McLeod’s production last season slides him inside the NHL top 50 for points production among centres. Coupled with his superior defensive results, that makes him unequivocally a legitimate 2C last year)

https://www.realtor.com/news/real-estate-news/fannie-freddie-vantagescore-fico/ Looks like Trump pushed forward with something that was started under the Biden administration? Did not have that on my bingo card...

It’s a brutal story and there is obvious trauma on Linus’ part. Look into it. Don’t be a dick.

McLeod is somewhere between a 3rd and 2nd line player. Florida is basically built with guys who some team thought were 4th and 3rd liners and Florida was like... well actually

This is called anchoring. Look it up.

Right, because his father's death is connected to Buffalo how exactly? His dad couldn't live knowing Terry was the owner? I think it's fair to say athletes say anything when they make a change to make it seem like a positive change. Look at Peterka's comments in Utah. You think that isn't manufactured to fit the narrative? Yes he wanted out, but there's no way he sat back in Germany and thought, Utah, ya, that's where I want to be. The bottom line for me is KA botched goaltending then too. If Ullmark wasn't interested in signing why'd he protect him? Why didn't he grab one of the goalies that was free at that time? It makes no sense unless KA was sure he could sign him. So Linus lied to Adams and then told the truth about his father after? It simply makes no sense on that level. At the time, Boston fans were livid and thought Ullmark got grossly overpaid. Hindsight.

That's a good point/question to consider. Maybe social norms at the times too. Take Clinton, for instance. I think he was a great president (even though he was horrible for the military), but i don't think he could have survived that scandal in today's climate.

Sorry, but you are delusional. He's a third liner.

I agree. I realize there is a star a couple yrs out likely at the top of the draft, but Robertson is a star now, and even if you finish last overall, the odds of getting that star is, what, 25%? Robertson is pretty much what the rest of the first round will have as a target for performance. This team needs the fully prime elite talent, not a new timeline for KA to follow.

Fine. Do it.

I’d be curious to see if a Verona winner has ever played less games than that in a full season. … or at least in the “modern” era where the trophy goes to one goalie.

I think it would take the 2026 first (maybe top 3 protected) + Quinn + Helenius in order to get Robbie. They would ask for Benson and/or Kulich instead of Quinn.

I’ll give you five million and one dollar!