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Cozens was rushed and the kid line as your 2nd line was stupid, Risto was rushed, Meyers was definitely rushed. There's a list and it doesn't matter. The main thing on all of them is minutes, roles, and responsibilities. Power for example should have had less minutes and sheltered minutes along with more one on one coaching. Since we didn't have veterans to mentor him on ice we should have hired an assistant to work with him one on one. Jay McKee would have been good for example. They placed him 2nd pairing and he saw big minutes as a rookie. It was stupid and that's the definition of "rushed". Scoring stats don't matter for rookie D either. It's about learning D.

I feel you but am undecided on this. Helenius is more NHL ready than other prospects so if he earns it I have a hard time holding him back. I want to see Doan show something. I do not want him on the roster simply to validate a trade. I want to see something out of him that says he deserves a spot. If Helenius is markedly better than Doan I'm going Helenius.

Rasmus Dahlin: 9g, 35a in his rookie year. So no. Power went back to college, should he have gone back? Quinn was one of the best players in the AHL before he was called up. Levi was certainly rushed.

He has already passed Rosen and is quite a bit younger and able to play C or W.

Yes, he is ready to retire and will very soon. He would have stayed on longer to boost his pension had he been promoted.

Contracts CAN NOT get "redone" in the NHL. Thompson is locked in through the deal and cannot sign another contract until July 1 of the last season of the deal. That contract would take effect when the current 1 expires.

It’s quoting an athletic report from Pierre Lebrun. NHL contracts cannot be undone. Tage is getting $7M for another 5 years in deal that Tuch probably doesn’t want to repeat.

Power was in D + 1 since he went to college; rarely does any 1st overall pick wait a year much less more Dahlin was fine his rookie year Quinn was an oddity, he had tore up the AHL the previous year and while weak in the playoff had been a game breaker in the regular season Levi needed AHL time after college but I will forever believe his agent forced our hand there in at least some part.

Without getting traded, he can ONLY get an 8 year deal from the Sabres. And IF as a condition of running the playoff BF-LTIR rules into this season, the 6/7 rule kicks in July 1 rather than mid-September then if he walks to FA then he can only get a 6 year deal from anybody. (Expecting that won't happen; but until they finalize the revisions to the implementation of the new MOU to the CBA, it is possible.)

Oh Tuch clearly has all the leverage and I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. Where I’m coming from assumes 2 things: Tuch wants to stay more than he wants to maximize his contract; and the Sabres aren’t playing hardball in terms of the current market. Which, IMO was set artificially low by Elhers. I think if Tuch wants $9M over 8 years it would be done. The question is determining how much more than that he could get as an UFA under the new reality and the answer is no one really knows. Is he going to take $9M and watch Kempe sign a UFA deal for $12M this summer?

I never heard of this site. Is anyone legit behind it? Also, if Tuch gets double-digits, won't they have to redo Tage's deal soon?

with the whom now?

Excellent post. You presented a clear analysis of the contract issue from player and organization perspectives. I'm confident that a deal will be made but as you point out it is tricky balancing the needs of the player with the needs of the organization. And as what was brought up in another post (I believe from you or @dudacek??) that there is a difference between Byrum's and his situation. Byrum went for the shorter term recognizing that he is not in his prime just yet so a later deal would make sense for him. In contrast, Tuch is in his prime now and his future play most likely will level down some. It seems to me that it makes sense for Tuch to get a longer deal now so that when his game slides down he will already be locked in with his contract.

It must be hard for him.

It's the Sabres who are in a difficult spot. If they can't come to terms with Tuch before the trade deadline they will have to give up one of the best players on the team for whatever they can get. No one want's to do that again. Tuch is going to double his salary but you have that pesky Skinner buyout to work around next year. After that it gets better, but can they structure a Tuch Contract that works around that? No way Tuch does not go for a 7 or 8 year deal somewhere. Sure players decline but good players last longer than not so good ones. If Bennett could sign 8x8. A year later I would think Tuch is closer to 9 x8. The long term does not bother me with Tuch because he will find a way to make him self useful until the end of his career. Some how some way I think this gets done. If not it is going to be worse than it is now at Key Bank center.

But that's not what I was commenting on. It was the absurdity that Jackson was ***** off pre game and caused them to lose. This is nonsense.

They have that amusing, non self aware segment - as I'm sure Bills Mafia does - who are apt to say things like (super Maryland accent): "Yeah, I love Lamar, man, but there was something about Flacco that I just love more ... just something I can't put my finger on ... . Man, I miss that guy."

Yeah, the Ravens fanbase has quickly become one of my least favorites. The national media doesn't bother me, though. I think you might be reading too much into that.

He definitely was that for me. Unfortunately, his fans and national media supporters, who are constantly taking swings at Josh, make it extremely difficult to do so now. There is a very specific narrative with some members of the national media who bend over backwards to laud Lamar with praise while slighting Josh at every turn. I hate that social media and the sports screamers (normally referred to as talker) but in this case, all they do is scream, have made it impossible to support your guy without disrespecting all other players.

Agreed. He's got to decide how badly he wants the security of term. I bet the Sabres would give him $10M over 3 years in a heartbeat, but might balk at $10 over 8 years because of how that deal might bite them Jeff Skinner fashion if the cap stalls again. But picking the wrong spot in between reduces his earning power on another contract significantly.

If we didn't already have Josh, I'd love to have Lamar on the team. He's one of my favorite players to watch when he's not playing Buffalo.

30+ years they've been pushing diversity? Perhaps he's no longer in consideration for other reasons.

It doesn't squeeze the bottom roster guys if it's the same percentage of the cap that it is now (or was when the cap froze at about 82.5). If Tuch's camp feels he's worth 1W money, say Mark Stone's 9.9% of cap. Why should he sign for $9M next year (on $113 cap that % would be $11.18M)? Or worse, why sign for 7 years if the cap is going to reaches 125 within just a couple more seasons? Every player who is UFA next summer should be waiting until next summer. San Jose has $70M in cap space next summer. They need to 2/3 of their roster -- but if you get McDavid and Tuch, and still have Celebrini and Smith on ELCs that could be bridged -- you can attract a bunch of established Cup-hunting vets like Edmonton did, and still fortify with a handful of standard $5M guys.

Glad to see Helenius get the chances. Exciting prospect to have as a first call up

I just watched Benson’s post game interview from Tuesday. “We were menaces out there”. Love the language, it describes him well.