tom webster

There is no scenario where this is “career suicide.” As others have pointed out, it’s a no lose situation. If things work out, he’s the genius who saved a sinking ship. If they don’t, the narrative will be “he could only do so much with what he had to work with.” Most people taking on new assignments prefer to take over an under-performing business or department as opposed to a thriving one and this is no different.

You have no real idea what the organization’s feelings are with regards to JJP. Maybe this is Dahlin’s “Drury/Satan” moment.

As it turns out, and without doing any deep analysis, that draft class sucked for most teams.

In the end of the day, as bad as I think Adams has been, signing Ullmark might have completely changed his tenure. His misfortune was Seattle acquiring two hot goalies off the market thus setting a series of signings in motion that lead Linus to Boston.

It’s still funny to me that some people don’t understand this.

I agree, it shouldn’t have been a factor but it often is. It’s rare to leave a series of interviews with a slam dunk candidate and when it’s close, people tend to go with familiarity.

I know people hate what if’s, but that was the biggest turning point of TPEGS tenure. If he picks Zito, who was the other finalist, the legacy is so much different. I’m sure the Pittsburgh connection was the deciding factor.

I read that as “tax” camps and spent ten minutes of my life wondering why lacrosse players had special insight into tax laws.😔

Rick Dudley is great at what he does but he is notoriously abrasive and difficult to work with. He would be a great addition to the front office but I don’t think he’d bring a lot of people with him. Florida has been the perfect spot for him because he’s out of the spotlight. His joining the Sabres would also be a sign that Terry is willing to back away because Duds isn’t coming here without those assurances. On a personal note, I’d love it. One of my all time favorites, I still remember the day that Punch admitted letting him go to the WHA was his biggest regret as Sabres’ GM. He was that team’s JP Dumont. They underestimated what his toughness and drive meant to the mid-70’s Sabres in the same way Darcy did with Dumont.

I agree. I’m just making a point. First time guys can thrive and often do. The notion that they need an experienced guy or they need some senior level POHO runs contrary to the way the leagues most successful teams have been run.

People keep pounding the table for experience and less meddling even while with the final four teams we have; two first time coaches three first time GM’s and one owner considered more meddlesome then TPEGS

Howie Roseman practically begged every NFL team for a job before the Eagles “hired” him as an intern. Five years later he was their GM. I could come up with ten more stories although not as crazy as his. Teams hire ex-players as GM’s all the time. People were jumping for joy when Terry hired Lafontaine. Hiring him has been an unmitigated disaster but the process has worked before. He was a well respected player, a team leader and has a masters agree. He was hardly the equivalent of a daycare teacher. Again, I’m not advocating for him to be retained. I would have fired him last year but his hiring was not anymore out of left field then several other hires, including several that have hoisted a championship trophy.

Again you can’t argue with the lack of results but other owners do occasionally make out of the box hires and they hit a home run, or in the case of the Philadelphia Eagles, a grand slam. People point to the need for experience despite the fact that some of the most successful hires were first time guys without the prerequisite background. Adams has been a failure but it’s not like he was an elementary teacher when they promoted him.

I’m sorry, TPEGS deserves a lot of criticism but comparing him to Dan Snyder is over the line. The only reason Snyder is not in jail is because he has enough money and influence to buy his way out. Snyder is a scum bag. Terry is by all accounts a decent human being who has made some big mistakes with his hockey team.

Me too. Damn fax machine And Jiri Dudacek, or something like that.

I’ll admit, I had to look it up to confirm but it was Barrett Heisten and I’m old enough to include Morris Titanic and Joe Kowal.

I was about to ask about Savage before I read the last sentence. Nice touch.

Any word on Artem Kryokov?

I don’t think 31 other teams have a President and several of the ones that do were just playing musical chairs to keep a valued assistant GM. Titles aren’t important anyway. Having someone competent at the top, regardless of the title, is what matters.

I think it’s more that he wants the chance to be a #1 and expects to be paid accordingly. If he would sign for #3 money, they’d keep him.

No one really believes PFF grades

You don’t really think the lack of production from receivers cost them that game? I understand where you are coming from but first, they acquired Palmer who was amongst the league leaders in separation, second, Shakir and Kincaid are among the leaders, third, you have to hope Coleman makes some strides although he wasn’t a great separator in college either but fourth, and most importantly, I’m sure he’d love to have a top receiver but you can’t have everything you want and it’s hard to argue with the success they’ve had as well as addressing an area that was far more problematic then receiver separation.

This isn’t actually true. Three of them were in the top fifteen in separation. You can Google it or maybe I will when I get around to it.

I don’t disagree. I believe you need to uncover some gems to be successful and sustainable. I also don’t put much stock in pro bowl selection. I just thought the stat was interesting and maybe a foretell that NFL scouting has gotten better in large part because of the information available. Of course, I could be reading way too much into it.🤷‍♂️

A stat I heard today that I think goes against the conventional wisdom of the importance of the later rounds. from 2021 till 2023, out of the 685 players drafted after the first round, only 20 have made a pro bowl. During that same time, 25 of the 95 players drafted in the first round have made at least one pro bowl. 20 out of 685 25 out of 95