gilbert11

I think there is some similarity of Eichel’s relationship with the Sabres to Joe Thornton’s when he got traded by Boston to San Jose. Thornton was selected first overall by the Bruins in the 1997 draft. (Jack of course was taken 2nd) Thornton’s career started out slower than Jacks’s as he had only 7 points in 55 games his first season and then 41 pts in 81 games in his second season. Thornton eventually became a point per game player and exploded in his 6th season (the 2002/03 season) with 36 goals and 65 assists for 101 points in 77 games. Thornton was named team captain prior to that 2002/03 season. (Eichel was named captain before the 2018/19 season and had his best season to that point with 28 goals and 54 assists for 82 points in 77 games). Thornton regressed in the season following his career year. (Eichel regressed this season after arguably his best season in 2019/20) Thornton eventually became unhappy with the state of the Boston franchise and upset with criticism of his play. He was under heavy scrutiny for his leadership style and was criticized for not raising the level of his play in the playoffs. (Some similarities to Eichel) The Bruins were struggling to begin the 2005/05 season so he was traded to San Jose for forwards Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau and defenseman Brad Stuart, the 3rd overall pick of the 1998 draft. Now, if the Sabres were to trade Eichel, I sure the he!! hope they get a better return. Marco Sturm became a 20+ goal, 40+ point player for the Sharks and continued that pace for 5 seasons with the Bruins before his career fizzled out. Primeau was mediocre with the Sabres and continued as such after the trade to Boston at the age of 29. Brad Stuart made the NHL ALL-Rookie team in 2000 but never lived up to his high draft position. Overall, a mediocre return.

Was this in preseason or was I misinformed on the NHL debut?

So are there any franchise-changing players out there for the draft?

Kind of similar to when they threw “outgoing” Bills GM Doug Whaley out there without any answers?

I’ll put $20 on that.

Sunday’s game is national on NBC. Could an embarrassment on national TV finally result in some changes?

Way to help out the rookie goalie! 45 shots?!

It’s been too long to remember, but I think when the Sabres and Canucks joined and for some latter expansion, the expansion pool consisted of like 4th liners, 3rd D pairing, backup or even Minor league goalies. Also Some older players. Ex: Sabres selected Don Marshall, who was 38. He did score 20 goals in the Sabres first season.

Or an ex-Sabre like Pat LaFontaine? Too soon?

Steven Lorentz, grandson of former Sabre fan favorite Jim Lorentz, will make his NHL debut with Carolina on Thursday. As one that actually watched Jim play, I’m feeling old.

Or teach a sumo wrestler how to skate.

A double Rasmus pairing!

And that should be the way to get the attention of the owners and management. How about, for that first game, nobody shows? They make this big deal about fans returning and the arena is still empty. The Sports shows will report this and it should be embarrassing to the owners. Unfortunately, with the pandemic, they’ll just say people were being health conscious.

Can they petition to be included in the expansion draft with Seattle? Vegas has maintained a very good team with what they started with in the expansion draft, trades and free agency. This franchise needs to start over from scratch.

The power play on that 74-75 team was really good. Perrault, Robert, Martin, Korab and Stanfield.

Good data to show Skinner just hasn’t performed. Still, I don’t know what putting him on the 4th line accomplishes.

Just realized tonight was the first of 4 games in 4 days. Oy vay!! And with Eichel & Ullmark now both injured? Could really get ugly now. Wait, now I see tomorrow’s game is postponed.

I guess I was thinking of the NFL, without guaranteed contracts, where players become free agebts if they clear waivers.

Now that he cleared waivers, his huge contract is no longer in play. Has struggled so far but scored 26 goals last season.

Maybe Staal can pull a Vonte Davis (Bills) and retire in between periods.

We thought we were getting that kind of captain with O’Reilly but even he got infected by the suck.

Jurassic Park.

Was related to your comment about the tank.

The Fire Sale at the 2014 trade deadline resulted in the following draft picks and how they were used: 2014 Two 1sts- own- Reinhardt (already heavily discussed) Islanders- Isles took advantage of condition of, if Top 10 pick, push to 2015 2015 Three 1sts- own- Eichel Islanders- traded to Ottawa for G Robin Lehner St Louis- traded to Winnipeg as part of deal for Evander Kane 2016 One 1st- own- Alex Nylander: showed signs of development last season with Chicago after being traded for D Henri Jokiharju. They also received a bunch of 2nd round picks that were mainly used as part of trades (the picks or players drafted) for O’Reilly and Kane Present Time: out of all of that, the Sabres currently retain an All-Star center in Eichel (who may not want to be in Buffalo any longer), an average Top 6 forward who didn’t pan out as a drafted center, a solid defensemen and a couple bags of pucks. Overall, a poor use of assets.