nfreeman

I am deeply disappointed that I have to say this, but please do not post, in threads commemorating the departed, criticisms of the departed.

I heard it took the cook with a butcher knife, the manager and 3 cops to remove Konecny from the Denny's. But Reino left after the waitress wouldn't let him order from the kids' menu.

Awful. God bless him.

Love the optimism but I can't agree. I agree that the top 4 forwards are good players and will all be locked up. But that top-4 group is good, not great, and is nowhere near good enough to carry the team. It's at least 50/50 that both Mitts and TT wash out. I'd say it's less than 33% likely that either of them becomes a good 2nd-liner and less than 20% likely that both of them become 40-point guys. For that matter, it's at least 60% likely that both Pilut and Ruotsy wash out. Lazar is a fine 4th-liner but that's it. KO is an albatross -- so while you're right that he accounts for a slot, that is a bad thing, not a good thing. As for the rest, you're right that there are plenty of bodies, but "plenty of bodies" does not equal "strong likelihood of a good enough forward group to produce a top-25% NHL offense."

That’s twice you’ve asked the same question that could’ve been answered with 60 seconds of google.

They need to pay state taxes to the states in which the games (including road games) are located. So they pay much less in state taxes than players on NYS or CA teams, but it’s quite a bit more than zero.

CC -- I appreciate the kind words. In your absence, after a fair amount of board psychodrama, we settled on a compromise for political talk. The arrangement is that all political talk goes in the "Oval Office" club. Your post above is not a big deal, especially since the new arrangement came into existence while you were gone. Going forward, on the main board here, it would probably be better to describe a situation like the one above with something like "I was removed from a group on FB for disagreeing with someone on a political point, and the admin refused to answer me." You should certainly feel free to engage in political talk in the Oval Office club. Now back to regularly scheduled programming.

Just to be clear: if it takes, say, $7.5MM x 8 years to keep Reino, are you saying that you'd rather trade him for, say, the 19th pick in the draft, the 19th pick in the 2nd round and a Tage Thompson-level prospect? And then sign a couple of Froliks? Because you're not getting a top-5 draft pick or an elite prospect for him, and you're not getting a Skinner or Panarin at that price point. OTOH, I agree that there are plenty of higher-end NHL teams on which Reino wouldn't play on the top line. As I've said previously, if he's your 4th- or 5th-best forward, you've probably got a really good offense, but if he's your 2nd- or 3rd-best forward, you've probably got a lousy offense.

I, too, would like to see more fire in the belly from Reino. In terms of intangibles, I will say that he consistently sticks up for his teammates in scrums -- not with fists but with an acceptable amount of shoving and smack-talking, especially for a skill guy. The bolded is simply incorrect as a factual matter. Here is the quote from the Athletic: I agree that he puts the puck where his teammates need it very well, but not with the bolded.

Good list, and I largely agree, but I will point out that stars pop loose every year for various reasons. For example, Stone was traded last season, and there was quite a bit of talk last summer about Laine being traded. It is that type of situation (and IMHO only that type of situation) that would enable an upgrade from Reino. But I agree that deciding not to pay the $7.5MM or so per year to keep him and putting him on the trade market would almost certainly result in a net talent downgrade and would be a dumb move. I do not expect JB to make that mistake.

Full disclosure: my wife and I liked Season 1 of Dark but we bailed about 1/3 of the way through Season 2. We did both like Schitt's Creek. We also both liked episode 1 of "The Outsider" on HBO, but not episodes 2 or 3 as much. Episode 4 might be a make-or-break one for us.

Yessss!! dudacek is back and he's using bold print (which is his polite Canadian way of saying GFY) in defense of Reinhart, who has undeniably made some very sweet plays in the past few games! Watch your step, @pi2000.

Ugh.

Calle Jarnkrok Rating: 72.5#94 LW Ryan Johansen Rating: 72.5#92 C Craig Smith Rating: 73.7#60 RW FL1 Rating Rating: 72.90#30 FL1 Filip Forsberg Rating: 75.7#22 LW Matt Duchene Rating: 76.1#28 C Mikael Granlund Rating: 71.9#73 RW FL2 Rating Rating: 74.60#15 FL2 Rocco Grimaldi Rating: 72.4#74 LW Nick Bonino Rating: 74.1#57 C Viktor Arvidsson Rating: 75.0#29 RW FL3 Rating Rating: 73.85#1 FL3 Yakov Trenin Rating: 73.3#51 LW Kyle Turris Rating: 71.3#123 C Colin Blackwell Rating: 73.6#46 RW FL4 Rating Rating: 72.73#1 FL4 Defensive Pairings Defense Roman Josi Rating: 79.1#2 LD Dante Fabbro Rating: 72.0#67 RD DL1 Rating Rating: 75.57#8 DL1 Dan Hamhuis Rating: 71.1#96 LD Mattias Ekholm Rating: 75.0#15 RD DL2 Rating Rating: 73.09#23 DL2 Yannick Weber Rating: 70.4#108 LD Jarred Tinordi Rating: 72.8#53 RD DL3 Rating Rating: 71.57#24 DL3

I have reservations about Reino’s next contract too, but his effort and attitude are not among them. He’s a good player, not a great player, who is probably going to get a bit overpaid on his next deal. I don’t think he’ll become an albatross before the contract ends, and I think he’ll be consistently productive and a good team guy. I also think that when the Sabres start making the playoffs regularly, after a bit of adjustment, he’ll be an effective playoff player too. Trading him for anything less than a real star player would be an ill-advised instance of making the perfect the enemy of the good IMHO.

Am I crazy or did he kinda big-time his teammates on the high five row at the bench after his goal?

I agree that they lost talent (although not sure how much above AHL average — since all NHL teams call their best AHL guys up periodically), but the bolded is a bit strong unless you’ve watched their games pre and post mitts’ arrival IMHO.

No question he would be a great get, but others will offer more than just the equivalent of Miller.

I'd be very happy with this, but I think the Sabres would have to considerably sweeten the offer.

I agree with most of this -- especially the mood swings! -- but it's also worth noting IMHO that they showed some mental toughness in winning a tight game on the road against a very good team, and in winning 3 in a row after 2 bad losses had dropped them to a spot where the season was very close to being over at the halfway mark. I also thought the Mojo-Sheary line was quite good last night and Mojo in particular created quite a few chances. I'm fairly optimistic that once Skinner returns, he and Mojo will make that 2nd line a productive one again. As for Ullmark -- he's certainly flawed, and if JB doesn't bring in another goalie this summer, it will be close to a firing offense. The positive take is that Ullmark hasn't fallen off the table the way Hutton has, and the way Ullmark did in the 2nd half last year, and that he's providing at least decent goaltending.

That was an excellent win. A few game notes: - probably Lazar’s best game as a Sabre. I think his upside is limited, but he plays a fast, physical game and is taking advantage of the ice time that injuries have made available to him. - solid game by Linus, although I agree that he misplayed the Dallas goal. - I’d rather play Miller than Pilut. - Mojo’s line was very good and created more offense than Jack’s line did. - I also liked Risto’s game. He seems more in control lately and always very tough. - They’ve improved from 7 under DeLuca .500 to 4 under. If they can beat Nashville they will be 3 under at the break. That is a doable playoff scenario. RaKruuuuuuuu!!

I’m about to start hour 3 waiting in line at the DMV.

A cold beer after a long drive.

He's not going to take an assistant position. Someone will offer him a HC job by the end of May. Barry Trotz has made a huge difference for the Islanders.

@pi2000 can certainly speak for himself, but I interpreted him to mean that he would trade Reino (not let him leave in FA for nothing) rather than give him a big contract.