Kristian

The Sabres in a nutshell - Nobody wants to come here, but some can be persuaded by obscene amounts of money.

I'm sure Darcy can swing a really nice 2nd rounder for him at the deadline :wallbash:

Direct translation : "Unless you're bringing in at least 2-3 other players, and resign Miller and Vanek, drop dead".

I'm pretty sure you would end up scoring more goals than Stafford :w00t:

That's kind of the problem with the Sabres have right now - Nobody really wants to come and play here, unless : a. They absolutely have to, i.e. nobody else offers them a contract. b. They can make LOTS more money here than elsewhere, i.e. Leino and Ehrhoff.

You mean no scoring, no defense, no special teams, above average goaltending? You're right, he doesn't fit in with that. Wish they change how they build them Sabres, though :flirt:

I think they tried it, and curiously enough liked what they saw. However, several big market teams were not happy at all about it, and their lobbying for a return to clutch & grab was very, very succesful.

Well, since you put it that way.... Just goes to show the "impact" Gerbe has on this team - I'd forgotten he was around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umDr0mPuyQc I realise you're probably not being 100% serious about this, but picking up an ex-sabre well past his prime, at a time of rebuilding would just scream "one step forward, at least five steps backwards" to me. In other words, totally expectable from Darcy Regier.

No disagreement from me there, and my my somewhat sarcastic point was actually that the Sabres shouldn't be worrying about the Nathan Horton's of the league right now, as they have much bigger, and simpler, issues to address.

Yeah, this team doesn't need playoff performers before they start making the playoffs :wallbash:

So you agree with me then, they're almost done rebuilding? :flirt: All kidding aside, I agree - That does sound remarkable.

Oh please - Need me to spell it out? "We don't know if he'll ever be what everyone hopes he'll be". How the heck can anyone make that out to be, "yeah let's give up on him already". I'm only responsible for what I type, not what you think I type.

I was replying "No you didn't" to your "No where did I say" remark, i.e. I was agreeing. I don't care about Darcy's mind games, all I can relate to is what he says, then I'll decide if I believe it or not. I believe it, because he tried free agency, and either failed or got burned. Is there a chance he'lls surprise me? Of course, which is exactly what I wrote above. If a complete rebuild equals dead last in the league, that rebuild isn't complete, period. Chances are that Panthers rebuild is not quite done yet, that was my entire point.

No you didn't, but Darcy all but said that's how he intends to rebuild. Through draft, and talented young players. I haven't come to a conclusion on Grigs, other than we don't know if he'll ever be the player everyone is hoping he'll be. That's just simple fact, and I don't see how anyone can disagree? The Candians may be the exception to the rule, but I don't necessarily agree what they did was a "rebuild". The Panthers? Are you kidding me? They ended up dead last in the conference. I realise you didn't say a "succesful rebuild", but seriously?

Because you don't build a team with draftpicks and AHL'ers only, that's why. You draft players, sure, and if you're able to build your team on mainly your own draft picks, more power to you. But that's less than half the job - Who's to say any of these centers turn into NHL players? Hodgson looks good, but Grigorenko has shown nothing at the NHL level, and neither has Larsson. I know, they're young. But talent doesn't mean you become a good NHL player, Sabres fans of all people should know that by now. This entire crop of young players could all fall flat on their faces when trying to make the transition from the minors to the NHL, and then you can start over rebuilding 5 years from now, without even getting the foundation set in the first place. You need to bring in players who are NHL'ers too, and some of them have to be players than can address an immediate need as well. Building solely from draft picks and minor leaguers never won anyone a cup. It's something you need to have in place, I get that. But when you do a rebuild, you need to identify players you can build a team around, and right now those players are not Grigorenko, Hodgson or Larsson, and they may well never be, for all we know. So yes, I think it'll take at the very least 3-5 years, unless Darcy surprises the heck out everyone this off-season and brings in someone who can play center in the NHL today, and do it rather well too. Let's face it, the way no. 1 and no. 2 centers have become rare commodities in free agency, things aren't going to be as easy as we'd all like.

Nah, we haven't sucked yet, but according management we may suck the next 3-5 years.

True, but those two are ten and twelve years younger than Gonchar.

I don't see how we disagree, I never disagreed players would come to Buffalo if we chose to break the bank on them. What I did say however, is that kind of players are not what this team needs at this point. With the case in point, Gonchar, I think it's fair to say the Stars didn't sign him for his shutdown abilities they most likely signed him to produce. I think paying 5 mill. for an offense-first defenseman requires him to produce, and produce A LOT, in order for him to be worth his paycheck. Now, if he were able to keep pucks out of his own net as well as score 50 points, hell yeah I'd agree my valuation was off :o

I'm not saying he'll play poorly because he took the money he was offered, I'm debating whether he'll be worth the money he was offered, rather. Perhaps I chose a poor way of wording it. I'm debating whether or not the Sabres should be shelling out big bucks for free agents - For this to be the case, these players need to be players who will turn things around, IMO. I don't think a 39-year old Sergei Gonchar is that player, hence I don't think the Sabres should shell out that kind of money for players of his caliber. For him to justify that deal, I think he needs to break the 50-point mark both seasons. I don't think he would reach 30 points on this Sabres team, and while I know next to nothing about the Stars, I have a hard time seeing him keeping up his current production there.

Of course they'll sign with bad teams for ridiculous money, but will they play well, let alone help turn things around? Doubtful at best.

Exactly, unless they're playing for money. Don't want anymore of those guys, thank you very much, I'd rather watch a bunch of AHL nobodies who at least give a damn. That may be true, to a certain extent. But the reasons you listed above have to be way down on any decent players list of reasons for going to a certain team. The best reason to come here is a paycheck apparently - Not what this team needs. At all. *edit I'd be a lot more enclined to take a few players who may be looking for money more than winning the big one, IF Darcy wasn't the one negotiating those deals. I have absolutely no factual evidence to back this up, but I cannot imagine player agents aren't licking their chops when the talks fall on the Sabres, looking at the deals Darcy's handed out in the past few years.

You and me both, all I understand about it, is that it let's notorious cheapshot artists off for nothing until they do something so obviously despicable, the league can no longer turn a blind eye.

Nah, Orpik's too tough, and Neal scores too much. Darcy no likey.

The problem is, you don't just assemble talent in the minors, and watch them make the transition to the NHL over say, a three year period. Som are ready right away, some take later to develop (Campbell is a good example), and some never develop. You don't build an entire team by drafting young talent, you need veterans and leadership for talent to develop. We have neither, and it's becoming quite apparent that nobody wants to play here, unless they are grossly overpaid, in which case it defeats the purpose.