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i like dylan - i just notice he is considerably better on the wing - and legit as a top 6 forward. i dont think he solves our long term issue with solidifying the 'spine' of the forward groups. but i seem to be in the minority as most fans believe our 1 and 2 C is set

they have a 1 and 2 center on paper. not in reality. tage is the only legit top 6 center this team has. no, that was his total contract value. he makes approx 3.8 a year

I'm going to go out on a limb, just a gut call. I see the sabres trading someone like mitts. I get the sense we are looking for more young left handed defensemen that have a ceiling yet to be reached. This take probably doesn't age well...but whatevs. I think it happens.

This thought crossed my mind as well...

Feel free to offer your take Hank. More than willing to debate

all for the positive take - it is not all gloom and doom. cozens and tage are good - although i am not as high on cozens at center - not higher than casey at center at the very least. in a nutshell, that is where we differ. I think Casey is our 2 C - and with him we are still a C short. Now if we take away the C's and the W's in this argument (as mitts and cozens can play both at a top 6 level) - we are still short a legit top 6 player. At D, feel our biggest problem (pre Byram even) was their age. Very young - and always thought it would mature into a good group in a couple years. Personally feel our top 6 and depth in Rochester/Juniors is overrated, and is now weaker. Legit Top 6 - Tage, Cozens, Tuch, Peterka and possibly JJ (candidly, we do not know yet with him, it is a guess). Skinner is a 3rd line winger on a good team - getting more than 15 minutes, if, and only if your team is losing going into the 3rd period. Greenway is bottom 6. Krebs is bottom 6. Benson is bottom 6, with top 6 potential in a couple years - we are thinner than people think at Forward.

i typically enjoy your takes - and still do! but i dont see it here. this team needs more veteran top 6 players - not less. the pipeline and krebs is all well and good - but they are not, nor guaranteed to be better than mitts. offensively, as of now, this team is worse off for the next 2 years (based on no additional significant moves being made, of course).

definitely a market for Z - he is a legit 4th liner any good team could benefit from. all the more reason i am cool with the sabres keeping him. if they get a 3rd or 4th - and then resign him, homerun. great point on contracts and not talked about enough - always been my main concern with GM's who overvalue and/or overprotect their high-level prospects. you cannot keep them all, plus future draft picks. why would a GM want to keep all those gambles anyway? i do not think KA will do it - but i would be in love with the idea of seeing a couple high draft picks and a few high-level prospects go for a couple vets with 2 years of term. which prospects? candidly, don't care. none are 'sure' things.

Kyle and EJ. VO - there will be no takers. Joker will be to expensive Girgs and ER stay, as I think KA will want to resign them both. This team really needs a Top 6 forward. More scoring options needed to free up Tage - and Vet depth is needed for when players like Tuch and Quinn are out - or Skinner is on a cold spell. Our current depth is way way too young.

i agree with this - i dont know if we are in agreement with what i am about to say - but i always thought he was under utilized on the power play here. it was one of his strengths early in his career - and always preferred him on the PP over skinner (not interchangeably, but in high level theory). good positioning, angles and possession are key, and he has those. never understood why we didnt use him more.

if all of our forwards played the puck as aggressively against the boards as mitts, this would be a different team. That said, i do not disagree on skinner. he is a horrible example for the younger players on how to play complete hockey. move(buy) him out - bring a couple of B level two way players in.....AND add a new coach....AND maybe, just maybe, this team can finish above .500

It's 3.5 at the floor. Steal some of his ufa, and you are over 5. If I'm his agent, I'm using recent history against this front office. Fan base has no patience regarding the goalie position...and team has signed multiple rfas to good deals. He's gonna cost more than fans are prepared for...

If they feel like they 'have to' move him...this isn't far off. Probably throw in a second rounder as well. The first would probably be a protected first this year. If they are just getting feelers...it will take that minus one of the prospects and replace them with someone like quinn or JJ. With the cap issues teams have, it's hard to pay more and expect much more than you proposed.

good observations - while the fancy stats show the first line played well - they did look out of sync. It does not seem like there is any rhyme or reason to what they are doing out there ( I feel that way about all the lines for what it is worth). The structure is noticeably bad. So, yes, the fancy stats say you are wrong - but you are right. Their talent bails them out sometimes - but not always...

the sabres are not paying him for offense. that they pay tage, cozens, skinner, tuch, quinn, jj, mitts to do that. i will give quinn a pass for obvious reasons. if the 4th line combined has 15 goals on the season, i will take it. that line, and z, is not the problem.

i am too lazy this morning to find the appropriate GIF - but if i wasn't, it would express 'tired indifference' towards this game

I agree with you - Benson can be moved if the price is right. The only players I believe they should be building around are Tage, Mitts, Quinn, Peterka, Dahlin, Powers, UPL and ... that is it. Cozens, Tuch, Samuelson, Benson, Savoie, Kulich, Rosen, Levi, Östlund are all term players we should consider moving if the return is right. Any players with FA pending goes without saying - although a Girgs trade and resign would be good by me. If three of the mentioned players above plus a few draft picks can be turned into 4-6 legit NHL ready players - go for it. The teams veteran depth is putrid enough to warrant it.

Awesome idea for a thread! Better: Girgs. Perfect 4th line player. His stone hands are real...but he skates fast, to the net, and gets back on D. Sign him again this off-season. Better: Power. His contract is a Trainwreck. Not his fault. Not our fault. He has the body of a teenaged giraffe. His best hockey for us is 2 or 3 years away. Better: Only because it seems 50% of the board is ready to move on still...Mitts. So much so, I think he is the teams best all around center. Which leads me to the next... Worse: Cozens. Contract was a massive overreaction by the front office. To be fair, not his fault. He should have been bridged at best. Or Mitts should have been given 7 million, with Cozens being used to solve our top 4 D and/or bottom 6 lack of depth issue. He is a 3 C/ top 9 F on a playoff team as of now. We over committed. Worse: Dahlin. Although based on the posts, I am not as alone as I thought. His D responsibility is poor. Not being cruel...it is simply poor. He hangs on in the offensive zone way to long. He is virtually useless during important D zone faceoffs. Thank God he is still young and can improve still. Worse: Skinner. Wonderful goal scorer. But he is horribly irresponsible on both ends of the ice. Terrible on ice role model on a young team. On a good team, he is a 5 million dollar player getting 12-13 minutes a night. I was a defender of him in the past... watching him more closely, I have soured this year. Worse: Levi. Been saying it since the summer. He belongs in Rochester for 1-2 years. He is all about habit and structure. College hockey allows that more easily. The NHL does not. Always was going to be a rude awakening for him and his desire for zen. He needs time to learn to be an adult pro. (If the Sabres don't F it up, I'm bullish on him).

Half agree with you on #5. Not sure nice ***** needs to be taken away. In terms of education and physical health - they should have top of the line and readily available equipment. That said - always felt the lockerroom and entry way to the ice was a bit too country club in its design. I am more on board with workman like aesthetics - but high level treatment and equipment. Create an environment that makes the players more excited to take the ice than hangout in their lounge with the boys. State of the art system that creates best ice in the league? I would put more money into that than even making the fan experience better. Fans will come if you are winning...even if the beef on weck sucks! I digress...

sure. but who else is going to do it? hope is all we have - that and bitching and complaining!

I don't know if a 100% blowup is necessary with this team - but a shot across the bow would be hard to argue against. Head Coach - let him finish out the season. But behind the scenes, they should be strongly evaluating what they want out of a head coach - and create a list of people who fit their defined criteria. Current Players - IMO, I believe Cozens is their best trade chip. I like him. He will do well. But I believe Mitts is better - more well rounded - and at a perfect age. If Skinner can be moved at a 50% retention - they should do it. So fun to watch him score goals - but he plays irresponsible hockey. He is not a good playing role model for the young players. EJ and OX will be gone next year - so be it. Devon - KEEP HIM IN ROCHESTER. Let him have a year, or two, where he is the leader and getting all the reps on a contending team. He is not going to get that in the NHL. Is he better than Comrie? Sure, by a little. But not enough so that he should skip the proper development stages. Future Players - Vets are good to have. But they have to be Vets who can produce. OX and EJ are no different than Gionta. You can only lead so much if you cannot produce on the ice at a high level. This team needs 2-3 players - aged 29-33 - that can produce. A veteran mix of players that the young players can role model themselves to ON THE ICE. Probably have to overpay by 15-20% - but that is the cost until you become a proven winner. GM - I would keep KA for one more offseason. But the management of Devon - and his inability to close on producing vets via free agency is a red flag. Not talking about 35 goal scorers - talking legit bottom 6 players that can slide into the top 6 when necessary. We are lacking that...

While I am not a big poster around these parts - I just have to get this off my chest... What a ***** show our organization is. It is 100% clear that they have no framework or identity to fall back on in any scenario - including development. Leave Levi in Rochester to be 'part of a team', develop/learn...and practice/play as a starter. KA and Granato are amateurs.

I actually agree with you regarding ER - he doesn't crack every lineup in the NHL. Probably does not crack 70%. Unfortunately - he cracks ours due to lack of bottom 6 depth - and the fact he does bring a different element to the team that is needed. Buffalo is stars aligned for him. But no illusions that he is a long-term answer.

I am with you on this - he brings a dynamic the rest of the roster lacks. He crashes the net hard - and when on a line with Krebs and Girgs - they all follow suit. It is a nice change of pace the opposing team has to deal with. VO is a fine press box piece. This goes beyond ER...Ryan Johnson needs to be in the lineup (which means moving Joker or sitting EJ). And Devon needs to go back to Rochester - he should have never been called back up. Best players need to be out there. Period.

I always thought this place smelled a little funny... 43. Not always; but a lot of times, you can have a solid idea of what the person's age is based on their posts. That would have been a real fun game.... I have always found that spotting a person my age or younger is rather easy. They tend to state their opinions as facts with no supporting evidence to back their thoughts up. When they do provide evidence - it is usually someone else's work they carefully select to make their point. In any event - great thread!