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Ahh, well whatever. I was not commenting on your question as it did at least give me pause to consider. I don't agree. My commentary was strictly decision by a poster to give into intentionally insulting terms. On to football!.. but first.. I am a huge George Carlin fan. 🙂

They absolutely could get a bigger-name guy for $6-8 million and 2 plugs for the 4th line and call it a day. Let’s focus on the Canucks here since they are a team whose jump we are trying to emulate. I think the Sabres would be more than happy with a summertime haul that yields the likes of Elias Lindholm, Dakota Joshua, Sam Lafferty and Teddy Blueger. Vancouver is paying those 4 guys $4.8M, $800K, $1.9M, and $1.1M - $8.8M total. Lafferty was acquired for a 5th-rounder, Blueger signed July 1 to a 1-year UFA deal, Joshua was basically a Brett Murray they signed for depth. And Lindholm was acquired for the type of deal many of us want Adams to make: a bushel of picks and prospects - roughly equivalent to Ryan Johnson, next year’s 1st and scraps - Kuzmenko, a fat contract sitting in the press box.

Too hot here to stay indoors and watch. Thanks for the updates. I’m in the garden drinking German pilsners. Lovely.

Cozens scores again for Canada. Good to see. He’s a very good player who had a rough year.

The above is all true. To take it a step further, let's assume Krebs is moved back to 4C. Let's also assume that Skinner and Greenway are the 3rd line wingers. And let's assume Levi is the 2nd goalie as is likely to be the case. This leaves us around $9 million to bring in a 3rd line C and two 4th line wingers. Upgrades don't need to cost more than what we paid Okposo, Girgs and Jost, but we probably have to spend at least the same, $7 million, to get better players. If this happens, we will have increased our spending to within $2 million of the cap (give or take), without upgrading or changing the make-up of our top-6 and D. It also assumes we are actually prepared to spend that much. I do think that the above scenario can render us a better team than a year ago. With development of existing players and bounce back years and better coaching, it could yield a playoff team. Unless we are moving a veteran out though (Joker, Greenway, Samuelsson, Skinner), there is little to no room for a bigger splash. Lots of fans want us to move #11 and/or one or two top prospects for veteran upgrades. Such a trade or trades would mean, I think and hope, bringing in a player with a larger contract. I'm not making excuses for management. Just pointing out that all of the hope for big acquisitions (not you, but from this thread: Pavelski, Necas, Pesce, E. Lindholm, Stephenson, Stamkos, Marchessault and Zadorov) is likely misplaced for multiple reasons, one of which is there actually isn't a lot of cap space available.

I was a Bruins fan for that series. I did pick FLA to win the cup this year. I thought after game 1 when Boston destroyed FLA that this would go 7. The the Panthers turned it on and there was a disparity in talent for sure. Swayman was a huge factor here. I'd like to see McDavid get to the dance, but I have no real dog in that series, I just hope it goes 7. The Avalanche looked poor, maybe Dallas is that good, but that's not the Avs team from years past. Watching just further cements that our team is AT BEST a first round easy exit. And that's their ceiling. So sad

What was your impression of the Albany fans? Mostly interested in the number of them. I would like to see the league in general do well.

Was that a full-capacity crowd last night?

I think it's realistic for him to hit the numbers that you project, especially if he is put on a more talented line. However, even if he doesn't reach the projected numbers, hie still adds value by the way he plays. As @K-9 pointed it, as a rookie, he was one of the most structured and persistent checkers in the lineup. And, as you noted, right now, he is one of the best full-length players on the team. This resilient youngster was a terrific draft selection. I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in his sophomore season.

This is exactly right. Both are going to test the FA market, which does not mean they will be leaving the Sabres. Although, I do think that VO said he planned to play in Europe. That would be very likely, I think. Maybe Girgs too.

I don't see this at all. I think there is generally the opposite occurring and people are as much or more excited about Benson than they were about Quinn/Peterka. Completely agree with your last paragraph, except it wasn't just perception. I was critical of Benson being in the line-up this year, but not because Benson did not play well. I think he had as good of a rookie year, and in some ways a better rookie year, than what Peterka or Quinn had. My disappointment in his place on the team relates to this past year being a season where we needed to move forward; to move forward we needed something more in that position than a winger who would give us an uneven rookie season in the same category of the rookie seasons we got from Peterka/Quinn. Benson is great. I'm thrilled we have all 3.

After Celebrini at 1 there seems to be absolutely no consensus on where the top 15 or so guys will be taken. This will be a fascinating first round.

Good to see this. I don’t get to see the lacrosse game very much but it’s nice to see Buffalo had a strong team that wins. It’s something positive for the sports fans and the team deserves more honors.

You can consider me de-baffled on your original point. 🙂 And I was not so much directing at you, just using your post as a launch point for the discussion. I still find it odd how generally (not just you) there is more sentiment of disappointment around what Benson did versus what Quinner or Peterks did the year before. I suspect it is because the season was so disappointing (an 18-yr old throwing in 30 points on a playoff team sounds better than doing it for some middling organization stumbling through the dark valley of no playoffs) and typically if an 18 year old makes an NHL team, it is because they are McDavid/Eichel/Bedard and they are scoring like first line players. I think if the Sabres had been solidly in a WC spot all year and made the playoffs, Benson's season would have been seen as an indication of how strong the lineup was (dang, they did that AND had an 18 yr old) instead of the glaring weakness it was. ("It" being the fact an 18 yr old could crack the roster, not any slight on his tenacious play, dogged determination, or satisfactory point output). The concept of Benson making the team being far worse than his actual play.

Don't worry, he will get run out of town in enough time to be a mature player on a Stanley Cup team scoring for them.

Sweden just scored 3 goals in 26 seconds and now get a 4th to pull away from Latvia.

My father in law used to have an interesting take on playoff performance. He said that guys who have a mercenary mindset fade away at that time of year. The players don’t get paid as their salary has been paid out during the regular season. The financial reward from the league for winning a Cup is small change compared to their salaries. Those kind of guys do well in the 80% part of the season but may not want to give 100% for two more months.

Dahlin got a misconduct

Cozens has found his goal scoring touch again at the Worls, 3 goals in 4 games.

Their D core is Hedman, Dahlin and Karlsson. I haven’t watched any of their games but they are a definite contender for gold.

Lindstrom at 13 and Levshunov at 14 is the lowest I’ve seen those guys. I would take either at 11. The concerns with Lindstrom are playmaking and durability. Levshunov didn’t impress these guys with an elite skill to separate himself from the pack.

I'd put Benson around 45-50pts this season. Benson got 30 last year as an 18yr old with barely any pp time on a terrible pp. He's only getting better. Jack Quinn, 70+ if he's healthy. Quinn already broke out, we just can't say it cuz it was a short time frame. He's gonna be great if he's healthy. These are probably the best 200ft players we have currently. I think if you can build a line around Benson, he could drive it. If you put him with Quinn Cozens, he'll hit 50pts.

Would anyone attempt an offer sheet for Casey? I know it rarely happens but say 1x6M for a first round comp pick?