nfreeman

I really wanna say that he’ll make the team out of camp and blossom into a leadership role over the next couple of seasons, but the stupid injury IMHO makes it much more likely that he starts the season in Rochester. I do see him as a core guy in the not too distant future.

But there are only 1,312 total NHL regular season games (32 teams / 2 teams per game x 82 games). So it seems like the “more than 1000” games would likely cover all of the games other than the TNT or other national games?

Just to be clear: are you saying that if you don’t live in WNY, but you have ESPN+, you will get every Sabres game without having to spring for NHL Center Ice? And if you are saying that, how confident are you? I sure hope you’re right!

That's not the same thing as waiving his NMC, which doesn't take effect for another year. Right now he has to go anywhere the Sabres trade him, so the bolded statement isn't a concession by Jack.

I agree that the article raised questions worthy of debate. I do think it was so deeply flawed as to constitute a poor work product though, for the reasons I stated earlier. Having said that, I do not think Jack would void his contract if the Sabres would agree to do so. If he were willing to void it, I think we would’ve heard that approach floated as a trial balloon by his agents (although of course this could still happen as time drags on and Jack’s frustration increases). I think Jack’s approach has been and is that he wants the ADR and he wants the Sabres to bear the risk. For that matter, I don’t see why the Sabres would, or should, agree to void the contract ahead of time. I think they would be entirely in the right, if Jack has the ADR without their permission, to void the contract if it doesn’t work or, if it does work, to retain his rights and then trade him for full value. Bottom line is that if Jack wants this operation, he should be the one bearing the risk, not the Sabres.

Respectfully, the thought that piece provoked in me was “holy mackerel, how can Vogl ignore the $50MM elephant in the room and mischaracterize the issue so badly?” He utterly failed to mention, let alone discuss, the key issue, which is who bears the $50MM risk of this surgery — which is not medically advised — going wrong? He also repeatedly, and wrongly, asserted that the Sabres were preventing Eichel from making decisions as to his own medical care. That is simply false. Jack can have whatever surgery or acupuncture or leeches treatment he wants tomorrow. He just can’t do so AND require the Sabres to pay him $50MM. If Vogl thinks players should have the right to decide on their own medical care and hold the teams to their contracts — I don’t agree, but he’s certainly welcome to his opinion. It’s not from outer space. But ignoring the issue — or, even worse, not even recognizing the issue — is very weak sauce editorializing indeed, IMHO.

I agree that it's different from 2014/2015, and hopefully will end differently, but I think KA knows how important goaltending is -- so IMHO his failure to put good goaltending in place to support the youth movement can only mean that KA is targeting a top-3 draft pick in what is supposed to be a rich draft. As for Linus, Vogl reported that KA only offered him a 1- or 2-year deal. That's not a real effort to secure his services, IMHO. And, like last year, about a million real NHL goalies changed teams, and KA sat out the game again. I hope I'm wrong.

@New Scotland (NS) -- you know I luv ya, but KA's staffing of the goalie position leaves me no choice but to conclude that he has decided to tank this season -- and by tanking I mean intentionally ice a team that will lose enough to ensure a high draft pick. I hate it, but I don't see how this goalie situation can lead to any other conclusion.

I don't know what the NFL CBA says on this issue, but it's important to remember that NFL contracts aren't guaranteed (although the stars are increasingly able to get some of their $$ guaranteed) -- so if a player has an operation that the team doesn't want him to have, the team can just cut him with no further financial obligation. That is a totally different situation from the Sabres' situation with Eichel. I would also be pretty surprised if NFL players can get whatever medical procedures they want with no effect on their contracts.

Obviously there was an uptick in the garbagiest of garbage time, but I'm not inclined to weigh that blip more heavily than what we've seen over the last 6 years. He seems like a good guy and I wish him well. I'm not going to pretend though that he's been anything other than completely useless on the ice and probably the biggest FA disappointment in team history.

Well, he announced it at his presser, and if it wasn't said in response to a question, the question would've certainly been asked -- probably as the 1st or 2nd question. I don't see how it could possibly have been kept private.

More utter mediocrity, ineffectiveness and decline.

Was this KA’s regular media availability or was it a special presser for the captaincy stripping?

Good breakdown. I will be pretty surprised if KA elects to take option 3. As @Thorny notes, this would be dumb and vindictive and make the franchise look even more like a clown show. This kind of back-and-forth over 2 pages of a good thread does not make for interesting reading.

This seems OK. I probably would've preferred a 6+ year deal, as having this one end only 1 year prior to UFA makes me a bit uneasy, but as others have noted it's fairly likely that Rasmus wasn't interested in committing to this poopshow for that kind of term. This way, the Sabres have 3 years to show Rasmus that they are worthy of his prime, and he has 3 years to show the NHL that he's worthy of a top-tier contract. If both sides are happy they can sign an extension in 2 years. A lot can happen in 3 years, so I wouldn't assume that Rasmus has implemented the "GTFO ASAP" plan.

My 2 cents: - I continue to believe that the injury has been and remains an insurmountable obstacle to any kind of real trade. No GM is going to take on a $50MM contract AND part with his team's crown jewels in the face of a spinal injury that has cost the player a season and an offseason, remains unhealed and for which the player is demanding a type of surgery that hasn't been used previously in the NHL (or any other sport, apparently, other than MMA, where life is cheap). So I think it's pretty unrealistic to blame KA for, say, not getting Zegras, Drysdale, etc. for Jack by now. - Having said that, @Thorny and others are 100% correct in saying that KA is accountable for the team's success or failure. Every GM faces challenges. It's his job to figure out a way to overcome them. KA, like JB, iced the worst GD team in the NHL in his first year as GM. Everyone with functioning eyesight knew in the summer of 2020 that the Sabres needed better goaltending, just like they do now. KA for some reason has looked the other way. It doomed the team last season -- likely contributing, as @dudacek notes, to Jack's alienation and desire to GTFO -- and will probably do so again this season absent a UPL miracle. - Similarly, KA appears to have decided that Jack is part of the problem and needs to go, and not that he is part of the solution and needs to stay. We'll never know how toxic Jack's behavior is, or whether KA's decision was driven more by the injury than by Jack's attitude, but there is a strong argument to be made that a no-BS franchise center is such a precious commodity that the GM needs to figure out a way to bring him into the fold, and a failure to do so is always the GM's fault. (Although again it's possible that the decision was driven by a determination that Jack's injury means that he is no longer a franchise center.) - Bottom line: I don't think KA necessarily has screwed up the Eichel situation, but regardless of what happens with Eichel, KA is accountable for the team's results. So far he's off to a crappy start.

Dreger's tweet illustrates that some people just do not admit mistakes and like to use words like "clarify" in pretending that they weren't simply wrong previously.

More contrarian Bills takes, eh? Do you think the Bills can beat the Ravens or KC with JA playing the way he has in the 1st 2 games this season?

I agree with each of you regarding Teppo's smoothness and coolness, and I assume that like me, you believe he had awesome hair. I see indications of that smoothness and calmness in Joker. Of course, as a young player, he's not as cool as late-career Teppo was, but I still (want to believe that I) see those hints. We'll see.

I am pretty skeptical that KA will agree to the ADR surgery.

Ugly game so far. JA is playing better than last week but still only so-so. Miami is making one mistake after another.

I think there is a pretty good chance that Joker and Dahlin develop excellent chemistry, some of which showed last year, and become a high-end NHL top pairing. As I’ve mentioned previously, I think Joker could develop into a Teppo type. That’s not a classic stay-home physical defenseman, but still a very good player who could complement Dahlin very well. Lindy used to say that Teppo calmed everything down in the d-zone. I don’t know whether Joker has that kind of hockey IQ, but he might.

I've never liked Pysyk's game. When I watch him, I don't see strong defensive play, contributions to offense, speed (although he is nimble on his skates) or any particular knack for getting the puck out of the d-zone, despite his analytics supporting the view that he's good at doing so. I think he's a player that demonstrates the limits of analytics -- i.e. a guy who puts up good numbers in certain analytics categories but ultimately doesn't help you win games or contribute much in any important area of play. He'll be fine as a 7/8 defenseman, but I'd greatly prefer, say, Samuelsson or Butcher in the top 6.

Let's keep vaccine discussion out of this thread please.

OK then.