tom webster

It’s going to be a weird dynamic having your number 2 center making more than your number one. In a perfect world, Cozens would agree to an identical contract but I understand why that’s unlikely. It’s similar to Colorado when they had McKinnon locked up cheaply and wouldn’t pay Duchense more.

I haven’t read the whole thread but, in my opinion, Casey and VO fall under the “Vinny Prospal Theorem.” They reach their ceiling when getting top 6 minutes but their ceiling isn’t good enough for top 6 minutes on a Cup contender and they won’t embrace a bottom 6 roll. Now the game has changed a little since Prospal played so they might have more usefulness but the trick is still trying to shelter them when you don’t need them to contribute so you have them when you do. On the other hand, the Sabres are reaching that point where eventually they will have to trade players who excel for other teams so it may be a temporary problem.

I think that’s the point. Beating Miami next week makes it 99.9999% sure the bills win the division but it would still take one more Buffalo win or Miami loss to guarantee it.

I keep getting closer and closer to leaving social media and all that entails. I get the frustration of Sabres fan but the freakin Bills are 10-3 which is amazing considering their coaches and players all suck. Just so we are clear, I have no “delusions of grandeur.” I don’t think my departure will cause a huge outcry. It may, however, be greatly appreciated by the people who have to deal with my mood swings or those employees that I may have threatened to relocate to Utica.

This Boston game was first thing I thought of. I can still see Mal Davis squeezing by the defenseman to score either the 6th or 7th goal, I can’t remember exactly.

Danny Gare would have knocked Guentzel out and not been suspended at all unless he killed him. For that he would have gotten 3 games.

I would and I find it interesting that the Sabres find it more beneficial to have kept Krebs up with the big club practicing rather than playing with Rochester. I am telling you, player development will undergo a major change in the coming years.

I wasn’t putting a positive spin on their play. Clearly they need to upgrade.

A few points; 1) If the analytics staff is only working with the numbers everyone has access to, you have huge problems. 2) As with any business organization, the head of said organization takes input from all departments and weighs their recommendations against what’s best for an organization. Just because it might not make sense to us, it doesn’t mean they are ignoring the analytics staff. 3) If there was one formula to building a team, you wouldn’t need any staff, just a premium subscription to evolving hockey.

Except that the cap will be close to $95M/$100M in 2-3 years. The time to grab someone, if you want to, is now before everybody has space again.

You are right, goaltenders are unpredictable but you also cannot wait for UPL to rediscover the magic he found once in the last several years. As I’ve said repeatedly, other than WNY, he has not been considered a top prospect. He had one great year in junior hockey but has been less than mediocre ever since.

I hear you. I’ve tried podcasts, some by friends, and I find them unlistenable. They spend ten minutes telling you what they are going to talk about and it goes down from there…..

TV and RADIO and have been on the cutting edge of analytics since the 50’s. They broadcast what their target demographics want, it’s that simple.

Because I found that there is a 51.2 % chance I will sound smarter then I am if I do.

I didn’t say it’s likely, I just think it’s premature to write them off. Obviously if you use their first 25 games to predict their next 47 games the numbers say no way but the whole point is I believe a talented young team can suddenly “find” themselves and maybe the GM changes his timeline and decides to help them. Thus next part is not directed at you or anyone specific but something I’ve wanted to say for awhile. I am a numbers nerd. Planned on being an actuary. I am fascinated by the explosion of analytics not just in sports but in life in general. However, I find it somewhat amusing that in a country where Burger King’s 1/3 burger failed largely because people thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4, in a business where I presently spend too much time explaining to customers that our new 1/4 option is smaller than our standard 1/2 option, suddenly everyone is a probabilities expert. I swear, cashiers can’t make change if they type in the wrong amount tendered but they can explain why player X is better then player y and provide all sorts of graphs and numbers to back their opinion up. That’s it. Been up since 4:30, on my second pot of coffee and just needed to rant. Carry on.

I understand it isn’t likely but if they beat Columbus and sweep Pittsburgh in regulation they will be three points behind Pittsburgh with same number of games played. I don’t know how you can declare them out at this point of the season.

Yep.

Time will tell.

So far two expansion teams under the current system, two early successes although Seattle may be a mirage, time will tell. As far as what the Pegulas done, no one can argue things didn’t work out but it’s not like any of their hires, other then letting Patty bring Nolan along, were considered crazy at the time. Largely their impatience did them in but I really would rather focus on the future rather than rehash the past.

Seattle didn’t take advantage of a lot of the deals that Vegas did but did load up on a lot of second and third line players resulting in their older roster and a more defensively sound line up which has allowed them to withstand their horrible goaltending. Jones and Grubauer are both below .900 save percentage. Other than Burakowski, most of their acquisitions are underwhelming. They hit a homerun getting Beniers and may have lucked out getting Wright although early returns aren’t great. I’ll take Buffalo’s potential over the next few years over the Kraken.

Almost any franchise would have had the same success if given the chance to start over again. It’s far easier picking from a pool of veterans over junior players while still being allowed to pick junior players and start with $30-$40 million in cap space. Time will tell if they can sustain it. I find it pretty funny that Vegas’ owner gets props for his lack of patience and meddling. They started well this year but their reputation amongst players, which I’ve been told is vitally important, is showing stress cracks.

They are older and more expensive. As I said, Buffalo is and should be a little behind them. Beniers looks like he’s going to be great but I’m still glad Buffalo took Powers and I’ll put Tage and Dylan up against any young pair if centers in the league. The future is bright as long as you look at it as year 2 and not year 12.

Seattle should be ahead for the same reasons Vegas had such early success. In fact, the Kraken should be even better except for some head scratching decisions in the expansion draft.

I missed this earlier, Kyle was not overpaid. He was the top free agent of his class and wanted to be here. I said I was done with this dialogue but this is just flat out wrong.

One thing we know for sure; 1) he tried to get Murray One thing has been reported by reputable sources; 1) John Gibson was asked to waive his NMC for both Toronto and Buffalo One thing I’m fairly confident of; 1) He thought he had Ullmark and misread the situation. Its on him to get something done but to say he isn’t trying is flat out incorrect