Taro T

Eh, if both sides are good with flying by the seat of their pants, sure, why not. But, as an FYI, in the latest MOU, they did agree to look at how the new BF-LTIR rules and particularly the post-season cap compliance rules as soon as the SCFs are done and that they both agreed to revise them after a 2nd playoffs if it was determined to be necessary. So, as they're now implementing the rules before the MOU takes effect, don't be surprised to see tweaks to these next season (rather than in the 3rd year of the MOU taking effect). And on a slightly different, but related, topic, do expect they're going to want to tweak the rules some in the fairly near future. IMHO, the place where they're going to end up wanting (needing?) to tweak the rules isn't for BF-LTIR circumventing of the cap, but from trade deadline pickups that a team can add during the regular season because they'd banked cap space. It doesn't appear there are any provisions for having some form of a cap "bank" in the playoffs. So, a team that had accrued $4MM in cap space by the deadline and because of that could add a $12MM player (as at the trade deadline there's only ~1/3 of the season left to be played and that $12MM player would only be owed ~$4MM the rest of the way) with no issues during the regular season; well, when the playoffs come about, now if that guy is playing they'll be ~$3-4MM over the cap (the $6MM of cap that the new guy's salary puts them over the cap minus the ~$3MM in cap that players 21, 22, and 23 on the roster aren't counting towards the playoff roster). So, the top teams won't have as much of an incentive to "gear up for a playoff surge" as if they do bring in a big name vet on the old assumption that their playoff roster can exceed the cap with impunity, they no longer can do that. Presumably both sides are assuming that the extra cap spending on injury call ups and no longer counting players 21-23 against the playoff cap will allow those "late season vet acquisitions" to fit under the cap. Not convinced that will necessarily be the case wthout benching some key 3rd liners that are so important in the playoffs.

They've released nearly all the changes (there's a few that you have to be an NHL player with access to the player's only portion of the NHLPA website to see; but most everything is available to the general public). But the changes don't take effect until September 2026. It has nothing to do with being complicated or not to implement. They've agreed to operate under the 2021(?) MOU through next September. And the next version of this CBA will run for at least 4 years and then it can be renewed annually if both sides want it to do so thereafter.

New CBA doesn't take effect until next September. So, not expecting the playoff BF-LTIR and playoff cap modifications to take effect THIS season.

Not one expected to see soon, but one seen in a Filly suburb right after the Sabres eliminated them back in '01. That was as AWESOME show. And didn't get anything thrown at us until leaving the theater. (They seemed to take issue with the Gilmour sweater for whatever reason.) The 1st clip was just the solo, the second 1 was the full song.

Not sure the point of elites or not, thought we were all ordinary average guys. Chz as an obvious exception. 😉

In. And could get extra tix if necessary. (But based on the past couple of years, doubt we'll even use all 8 of yours.)

The ONLY way the plan will have been right at this point is if they end up perrenial contenders for at least as long as they've been an afterhought in the Adams era. And even then a case could be made that when you factor in the extra value the present has over the future for those of us that happen to be mortal, no the plan never was right.

What, now you're accusing some of us of being Bob Woods? Interesting. Or are we Adam Oates?

Oates would be an interesting choice. Haven't seen Bob Woods get signed anywhere yet. Would love to have him back. The Bills brought back Aaron Kromer. Woods should be their PP coach.

Yes, they need to be willing to have more than just Zucker crashing the net. (Meant to include that in the tome above.) That's why Benson is my 1st choice to play the bumper. He sees the ice well and is one of only 2-3 players that goes to the net religiously.

To the 1st bolded. You are NEVER going to score if you don't have possession in the zone. To the 2nd, no, dropping the puck from the red line back to the dots inside your own zone is NOT what other teams do. They drop the puck back 40' or 60' tops. They DON'T have the puck consistently going back nearly 1/2 the ice. To the 3rd, already gave that info. 🍺

Expecting you've probably already tried this, but on the offhand chance you haven't will mention it anyway, you might be able to get a general handy man over more readily than a plumber.

The BIGGEST issue is entries. They have a lot of issues, but THAT is the big one. Everybody in the entire building knows they're going to drop it back and then will either skate it in and stay near the blue line with the puck until guys get deeper; or they'll pass it to one of the nearly stationary guys near the boards who will carry it in a few feet waiting for his teammates to get deeper so they can start cycling it and eventually get it back to Dahlin to bounce it occassionally to the right half wall but almost always to the other half wall where Thompson waits with his skates in cement. Thompson barely moves. He's set up nearly exclusively for that big boomer from the circle. And the opposing team knows it's coming. Let him spend a significant portion of the PP at the bumper and then slide back over to HIS spot when they aren't expecting him there. With that reach of his, he can be creative and he can dish to others that can either shoot or get him the puck back. As stated in another post. Absolutely HATE watching the Sabres run their PP. It is SOOOOOOOOO friggin' obvious exactly what they're trying to do. And the few times they do get it jumbled around, typically because Dahlin carried it in rather than dropping it back to Tage or Cozens (at least that can't happen anymore) or due to a scramble they are significantly more effective (at least by the eye test).

Some thoughts: 1. Put Byram in Peterka's spot. 2. Not sure who to put at the bumper. Would expect they'll give Norris the 1st crack at it (maybe they'll flip him and Byram) but personally would look at Benson 1st. Then Norris, Kulich, Quinn, Tuch in that order. 3. Let Power or Power and his partner (but ideally just Power) run the 2nd unit. Have Tuch down low, and the other 3 mentioned above that don't end up the 5th pice of the 1st unit working the 2nd unit. 4. Lose the 100' drop pass. We get it Seth, you have no idea WHY you have them do the drop pass. Well, other teams run about a 40' drop pass (some of the time, not friggin' always) so they can have 2 guys flying and the other 3 coming with pace ahead of them initially to give the puck carrier 4 passing options (each of which could have that player now carry the puck in, pass it to another teammate, or work the good old give'n'go) plus a dump in and carrying it in all viable. The only one on this roster that consistently can carry the puck in is Dahlin. He should TYPICALLY, but not always, be the guy carrying the puck into the zone. Improve the entries and you will necessarily improve the PP even without doing any of the fancier things they SHOULD be doing. 5. If you do have both Dahlin and Byram on the ice, consider cheating both of them in a little lower into the zone to put more pressure on the D and make any point shots more dangerous. 6. Add significantly more player movement to the PP. They move the puck around the exterior a lot. (Primarlily Dahlin to Thompson and Thompson to Dahlin.) Adding movement to where the players are will open up passing lanes and will also put pressure on the D. Let Thompson set up in the bumper more often than they currently do. 7. Add movement below the goalline. It puts pressure on the D, allows players to sneak into shooting lanes, and forces the goalie to be looking behind him and he likely won't move as cleanly when the puck comes back to a scoring area. 8. Increase the sense of urgency. They don't make quick passes. They allow the D to reset their formation, or never break it in the 1st place, way too often. 9. When there is a board battle, you HAVE to outnumber the opponent. Sooooooo many times, the Sabres who had the extra man would actually be outnumbered on the boards. Which, should their 1 forechecker beat BOTH defenders, gives the other skaters all sorts of clean options. Problem is, way more often than not, the one Sabre would lose the board battle and then we'd be about 8 seconds away from Power (or somebody else) dropping the puck back into one of his own face off circles while the other 3 skaters hung out at the opposing blueline relatively motionless. Bring 2 or even 3 guys into the board battle and then once you win the battle get into a frenzy heading towards the net with ONE guy ready to break to the far side which now should be open. Again, you give yourself options this way. This one was listed 9th, but it really should be higher on the list. 10. Figure out who will be your primary PKers and DON'T have them on the top PP unit. Have your best going against your best in practice, and don't keep doing the same low intensity things that you clearly are doing in practice. The PK is quite passive and as a result, the PP sure does seem to be comfortable working the perimeter because that works in practices. And if you're afraid that your PK unit will run around too much if they're pressuring in practice; well then let the top PP unit work against some of the guys that aren't regular PKers or the 2nd unit and have them working the Canes PK (high pressure, high energy, doesn't give up many chances but the ones they give up are A-1 opportunities). Sooooo many things they can and should do differently. Absolutely hate watching them on the PP. And it's worse being there in the building because you can see where they all are when that idiotic drop pass happens.

Which, provided they don't drive the good guys away frittering away the present, will be good enough to keep the team in the mix. And once it IS back in the mix, THEN you can actually start getting FAs that other teams also want and who don't necessarily have ties WNY/the NP to want to come here. Heck, wasn't a big part of pushing for getting the combine in Buffalo to give the young players a chance to experience Buffalo when the weather is actually good and they can see there's way more to it than the seeming dystopia a 20 minute ride from the airport on the Kensington provides. Get relevant and that strategy MIGHT be able to be somewhat successful. (It's pretty much pointless when you're the NHL's version of the NY Jest.)

Would add Novikov to that list. And do expect Johnson to be an NHLer as well, but could see him being a 7/tweener just as easily as seeing him be a 4/5. The rest, yeah some will make it, but likely not in a particularly meaningful way. (Maybe Wahlberg figures it out, and as he has tools not many of the prospects have, he'll get a shot at some point.)

Well, disagree, but you're being a fan. 😉

No. Being a supporter is in large part rational. Taking a stakehold in something you hold dear is extremely, dare we say, rational. We have prearranged songs that we sing to bring our club extra energy when they need it. We have prearranged chants to try to demoralize the opponent. That's the stuff supporters do, and those are both rational things to do. Supporters try to influence the outcome in planned ways - that's logical and rational. They support their team regardless of the emotion - "they support the club in much the same way they breathe." Fans are irrational and emotional. Being a fanatic means you have a love of whatever it is you're fanatical about. What could possibly be more irrational than holding a fair weather love? I do love you honey, but only when you're smoking hot. THAT ain't love. That's lust. And a casual fan is NOT a fanatic, just like a casual supporter isn't a TRUE supporter (in the way you impy) going to bother to learn all the chants nor buy the new kit just because they don't already have the one done up in green.

That is how one gets clicks and views.

He did come back.

Screw that ####. We're makin' it to at LEAST January before we become irrelevant THIS time. 😀

Naples doesn't turn all its grapes into pies? Who knew? 😉

Well, if they do need one more legit 1st liner, they appear to have a plethora of D to use as a centerpiece of a trade and though Adams doesn't seem able to really get into that pool too well, there is FA as well. And if you really do have an excess of 2nd liners (enough to pretty much have 3 lines worth of 2nd liners) only having 1 or 2 true 1st liners is a surmountable issue. Again, am pretty happy with the roster 2 years out. Not exactly thrilled with it at present (at least under current direction). But we're getting to the point in the program where this kid is getting mildly optimistic even though they still need at least 1 and likely 2 more good Fs and the GT is still significant Q, and will likely have a pathetic PP.

If the report is correct, at least Jones as well. And, hadn't seen Franklin on the roster before, but he might've been. The rest of them look like they were Bills earlier this summer. EDIT: Franklin was waived by Denver.

But IF this team stays together, they have Dahlin, Thompson, Tuch as true 1st liners/pairing players. And they have Byram, Power, and Kesselring as possible 1st pairing and at least 2nd pairing guys along with Norris should he actually finally become healthy. They also have Benson and Kulich who by the time the prospects are coming up should be top 6 as well. Quinn and Doan might become top 6 guys as well. They have plenty of D prospects to be rounding out the 3rd pairing in the near future and at least one of Helenius or Östlund should be top 6 as well. So rounding out the rest with 3rd and 4th liners, while not ideal, isn't horrible. Provided, they finally figure out who's capable of being a stud in net and find a crew that can actually coach the whole bunch, am actually pretty high on where they can be 2 years from now. The fear is that this season goes sideways so thoroughly, that they don't have all 3 of those top end guys when all is said and done.