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McLeod is a good third line player. If he is playing higher up your line up, your line up isn't good enough.

If he didn't get his head out of his bippy this summer, absolutely. But would rather have him on a line getting 3rd line usage than one of the top 2 lines in either case.

Actually, expect the NIL to affect the USHL more than the ECHL. But we shall see. Could really see it doing a number on the USHL as it would no longer be as attractive an option to kids that want to play college hockey but need a little more seasoning. If they can just go to the CHL (especially if it expands into a few more US based cities) could see that really effecting the level of play in that league.

You can phrase it how you want but I think it merely came down to money. They thought he'd take their offer but then Boston swooped in with what (at the time) seemed like an overpay so he took it. There were no indicators that he wanted out at that time. Sabres haven't valued goaltending properly for a really really long time.

McLeod’s ice time late had a lot to do with Dylan Cozens being traded and Josh Norris being hurt. He may not have centred “the 1st line” but he was certainly the de facto 1C. He won’t be that as long as Norris is in the lineup and his ice time will decrease accordingly. However, unless Kulich takes a big step or Lindy changes his mind about Tage on the wing, McLeod will be the Sabres 2nd best centre. And he will get 2C ice time, regardless of what label Sabrespace puts on his line.

No, not when he was an UFA. Good question @JohnC. Adams acquired Devon Levi and a #1 pick (which became Kulich) for Sam Reinhart, a guy that Boterill did not extend beyond 1 year. Adams traded RFA Reinhart because his plan was to rebuild with players that "want to be here". Adams had his goalie in Devon Levi. It was just four days after the Reinhart trade (Levi Acquisition) that they lost Ullmark in free agency when he went to Boston for the same offer that the Sabres made. There was much turmoil between the Boterill firing and the Adams hiring - Kruger was gone, the Sabres FO and scouting departments were blown up, layoffs impacted long time Sabres rank and file employees, and the Eichel injury and the eventual trade was an on going saga. If Ullmark was going to remain a Sabre then it probably would have been Boterill that extended him, but Bots was gone the year prior. Why do I think that? Because Adams is partial to Levi, the guy he traded Reinhart away for, and Adams thought Levi could jump in and be an NHL goalie. No Blockers were his big thing back then. So during his rebuild Adams let Ullmark go and brought in such goaltending stalwarts as Dustin Tokarski, Aaron Dell, Michael Houser, Craig Anderson, Malcom Subban, Eric Comrie, James Reimer and now Alec Lyon - all with the thought of not blocking Devon Levi from taking the reigns. This season we have UPL, Lyon, and Levi vying for 2 NHL spots. Can Levi vindicate Adams by emerging as good NHL goalie and a true #1?

Every spot Ive seen Quinn in the lineup makes me shudder. Just ruins the line.

No. I think he's doing slightly better than Adams but he should be fired too. Apparently he tried for Ehlers but Ehlers "didn't want to be there". I think Detroit will finish 5-10 points ahead of the Sabres but miss the playoffs.

I'm actually serious--if anyone knows of an online sports book that takes this type of bet, please let me know.

i’ll counter with a yes and no. Yes, bridging him set up the opportunity, but his decision was an outcome of his father’s death. I can’t speculate on what led to his decision.

Personally, expect the Sabres to try to set McLeod up with a good 2 way game and have that 3rd line be the defacto 2nd line. (Similar to how Drury's line was used back in the day.) With the 2nd line being younger and more offensively focused. (Like the RAV line was used.) Of course, expected that exact same thing last year and it never materialized. So, who knows. Especially, if when the Byram saga is written and they land a Rust (or similar) to add to the top line. Rust - Norris - Thompson Benson - McLeod - Tuch Quinn - Kulich - Zucker Doan - Krebs - Greenway

McLeod’s 3rd period usage will look alot different than his usage in the 1st teo periods. He’ll end up in Kulich’s spot when the team is up and looking to keep a lead.

Some time on the PP would probably balance it out. Win draws, screen the goalie, fetch the puck.

I am not sure, but to your point, it certainly is not in Adams modus operandi.... and further I think that is the great hope... the big improvement "play" this offseason... lets get tougher and play better D and we can finally break out... we shall see.

I hope not, but it is there, the ECHL is probably most affected.

I'm going to ask the same question I have been asking for a while. I don't have an answer myself and I really want to know what other people think: How much ice time do you want McLeod playing next year? -He averaged almost 17 minutes per game last year (16:50) -As the season went on, his play seemed to improve and his ice time increased even more (the last 3 months of the season his average ice time for the month was 17:23, 18:53, 19:15 per game for each month). So, nearly 17 minutes for the year, and he played better with MORE ice time later in the year when he was averaging over 18. But 3rd line centers in this league average about 14.5 minutes, MAYBE 15. So, if McLeod is going to be the 3rd line center, are we good with him getting 2, maybe 3 minutes LESS ice time per game than even last year? Especially since it seems Lindy wanted him on the ice a lot more than that, and he seemed to do pretty well handing the additional minutes?

Wadr, not a chance. Even with baseball becoming a much bigger NCAA thing than it was 20-30 years ago, college ball isn't anywhere near replacing the minor leagues. Hockey's been on a similar model to how baseball is organized since forever. Can't see NCAA replacing minors either. Just don't see it happening.

That looks so much more palatable that what we have currently.

The other thing with Kesselring is that he is a late bloomer entering his 3rd NHL season and just coming into his own. You can’t count on a bunch of individual players getting better the way Adams has, but history teaches us that generally, careers take certain paths and players of Kesselring’s age and experience (and Power’s and Byram’s) are likely to get better.

Again, we're in Act 2 of a 3 act 1 GM play. 😉

As in college teams become the minor leagues

Quinn: I'm leaning toward 35 point (slightly higher) but a defensive liability. I would have rather seen him moved for even the best available pick you could get for him rather than have him brought back. I guess He is still young enough to prove me wrong but he hurt this team badly last year. Norris: I want to lean more toward the 35 goal scorer, so that is what I am doing. I'm just not sure where he fits on the roster. I want to see Tage and Kulich stay together until that is proven to no longer work, and McLeod I want to get more than the 14.5 minutes than 3rd line centers normally get. Greenway: I don't see him as needed on this roster, and he's always seems to be hurt. If he was gone I wouldn't miss him. Samuelsson: I'm guessing I'm in the minority, but I still think he can be a good middle pair guy. Kesserling: I have Zero idea. Doan: Optimistic he can eventually be a somewhat-physical, 20 goal pest Krebs: someplace in between what you are saying. Last year I was as down on him as I am on Quinn this year, but I thought he had a pretty good year. I would not mind seeing his ice time increase, He 'hurts' this team less than Cozens did. UPL: Could be either. He WAS one of the best goalies in the league 2 years ago. He WAS one of the worst goalies in the league last year. Would not surpr`ise me if he is either of those things this year.

Except if you know what was going on in Utah you know that isn't what happened. You know who came back into the lineup at game 57, Sean Durzi, was out from game 4-57. Do you know who came back into their lineup at game 43 after missing 1-43? John Marino. They didn't lose confidence in Kesselring, they plugged back in the top 2 RHD they were paying to play those roles. I bet his +/- went down after he went from playing with good defense partners and the teams top 2 scoring lines to playing with plugs.

This is my point about this team. Adams is gambling on everyone staying healthy, producing and miraculously learning to play defense. He is praying that a goalie (UPL) with one good professional season in 5 has another breakout season and if he fails Adams is hoping that another prospect, who can’t seem to handle the NHL game, finally figures it out. I think Adams has a better chance of winning the Powerball.

Dom Hasek isn't walking through that door.